FROM     A     RARE      PHOTOGRAPH 

IN    THE    POSSESSION    OF 
CHARLES      MASON      FAIRBANKS 


THE    SENSE    AND 
SENTIMENT    OF 

THAC  KE  RAY 


BEING  SELECTIONS  FROM  THE 
WORKS  AND  CORRESPONDENCE  OF 
WILLIAM    MAKEPEACE    THACKERAY 


^ 


MRS. 


COMPILED    bY 

CHARLES    MASON    FAIRBANKS 


HARPER  &  BROTHERS 
NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 
M       -       C       -       M       -       I       -       X 


Copyr 

ght, 

909, 
All 

by  Harper  & 
rights  reserved. 

Brothers. 

PUL 

lished  September,  1 

qog. 

Pa 


The  Sense  and  Sentiment 
of  Thackeray 


INTRODUCTION 

MR.  THACKERAY  has  not  been  ac- 
counted  a  quotable  writer.  And, 
indeed,  his  lay  preachments,  his  in- 
timate confidences  with  his  readers  and 
his  observations  upon  Hfe  as  he  saw  it 
through  his  quizzical  spectacles,  were 
not  smartly  set  down  in  such  epigram- 
matic form  as  to  be  readily  retained  in 
the  casual  reader's  memory. 

But  here  and  there  from  the  open 
pages  of  his  human  philosophy  these  of 
his  sentiments  have  been  selected  for 
the  ready  reference  and  the  daily  com- 
fort of  those  who  love  to  sit  under  the 
ministration  of  this  lay  preacher.  Writ- 
ing of  himself,  he  protested  that  "under 
the  mask  satirical  there  walks  about  a 
sentimental  gentleman  who  means  not 
unkindly  to  any  mortal  person."  May 
the  following  lines  from  the  pen  long 
since  laid  aside  bear  their  own  tes- 
timony. P.  St.  A.  F. 
[I] 


OF    HIMSELF 

WHO  is  this  that  sets  up  to  preach 
to  mankind,  and  to  laugh  at  many 
things  which  men  reverence  ? 

Letter  to  Dr.  John  Brown. 


I  cannot  help  telling  the  truth  as  I 
view  it  and  describing  what  I  see.  To 
describe  it  otherwise  than  it  seems  to 
me  would  be  falsehood  in  that  calling  in 
which  it  has  pleased  Heaven  to  place 
me;  treason  to  that  conscience  which 
says  that  men  are  weak;  that  truth 
must  be  told;  that  fault  must  be  owned; 
that  pardon  must  be  prayed  for;  and 
that  love  reigns  supreme  over  all. 

Charity  and  Hmnor. 

Stranger!  I  never  writ  a  flattery, 
Nor  signed  the  page  that  registered  a  lie. 
Ballads — The  Pen  and  the  Album. 

[2] 


WOMEN 

As    for    good    women  —  these,    my 

worthy  reader,  are  different  from  us — 

the  nature  of  these  is  to  love,  and  to  do 

kind  offices  and  devise  untiring  charities. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  Ixxxiv. 

When  two  women  get  together  to  like 
a  man,  they  help  each  other  on — each 
pushes  the  other  forward — and  the 
second,  out  of  sheer  sympathy,  becomes 
as  eager  as  the  principal;  at  least,  so  it 
is  said  by  philosophers  who  have 
examined  the  science. 

Pendennis,  chap,  xlvii, 

I  wonder  are  our  women  more  vir- 
tuous than  their  grandmothers,  or  only 
more  squeamish  ? 

The  Virginians,  chap.  xxvi. 

'Tis  strange  what  a  man  may  do,  and 
a  woman  yet  think  him  an  angel. 
Henry  Esmond,  Book  I,  chap.  vii. 
[3l 


THACKERAY 

A  friend — can  one  find  a  truer,  kinder, 
a  more  generous  and  enthusiastic  one, 
than  a  woman  often  will  be  ? 

Essays — Men  and  Coats. 


But  I  do  respect,  admire,  and  almost 
worship  good  women. 

Mr.   Brown's  Letters  to  His  Nephew. 


When  the  women  of  the  house  have 
settled  a  matter,  is  there  much  use  in 
man's  resistance? 

The  Adventures  of  Philip,  chap,  xxxii. 


My  dear  nephew,  as  I  grow  old  and 
consider  these  things,  I  know  which  are 
the  stronger,  men  or  women;  but  which 
are  the  cleverer,   I  doubt. 

Mr.  Brown's  Letters  to  His  Nephew. 
[4] 


wo  MEN 

The  book  of  female  logic  is  blotted 
all  over  with  tears,  and  Justice  in  their 
courts  is  forever  in  a  passion. 

The  Virginians,  chap.  iv. 

I  do  think  some  women  almost  love 
poverty. 

The  Great  Hoggarty  Diamond,  chap.  xii. 

What  is  it  ?  Where  lies  it  ?  the  secret 
which  makes  one  little  hand  the  dearest 
of  all  ? 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  II,  chap.  vi. 

To  be  beautiful  is  enough ;  if  a  woman 
can  do  that  well  who  shall  demand  more 
from  her?  You  don't  want  a  rose  to 
sing. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  xxv. 

To  be  doing  good  for  some  one  else 
is  the  life  of  most  good  women. 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  I,  chap.  ix. 
[5] 


THACKERAY 

For  a  woman  all  soul  she  certainly 
eats  as  much  as  any  woman  I  ever  saw. 
Mrs.  Perkins's  Ball 

Suppose  Eve  had  not  eaten  of  that 
apple,  and  her  children  and  their  papa 
had  gone  on  living  forever  quite  happy 
in  a  smirking  paradisical  nudity,  it 
wouldn't  have  been  half  the  world  it  is! 
Letter  to  His  Mother. 

If  a  man  is  in  grief,  who  cheers  him? 
in  trouble,  who  consoles  him?  in  wrath, 
who  soothes  him?  in  joy,  who  makes 
him  doubly  happy?  in  prosperity,  who 
rejoices?  in  disgrace,  who  backs  him 
against  the  world,  and  dresses  with 
gentle  unguents  and  warm  poultices  the 
rankling  wounds  made  by  the  slings 
and  arrows  of  outrageous  fortune? 
Who  but  woman,  if  you  please  ? 

The  Virginians,  chap.  Ixii. 

@ 
But    there    are    moments   when    the 
[6] 


WOMEN 

tenderest  women  are  cruel,  and  some 
triumphs  which  angels  can't  forego. 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  III,  chap.  x. 
@ 

.  .  .  the  blessed  gift  of  pleasing  and 
being  pleased. — Pendennis,  chap.  Ixvi. 


And  who,  pray,  was  Agnes?  To-day 
her  name  is  Agnes  Duval,  and  she  sits  at 
her  work  table  hard  by.  To  win  such 
a  prize  in  life's  lottery  is  given  but  to 
very  very  few.  What  I  have  done  (of 
any  worth)  has  been  done  in  trying  to 
deserve  her.  All  I  have  I  owe  to  her; 
but  I  pay  with  all  I  have,  and  what 
creature  can  do  more.'' 

Denis  Diival — Notes. 

It  is  the  pretty  face  which  creates 
sympathy  in  the  hearts  of  men,  those 
wicked  rogues.  What  folly  will  not  a 
pair  of  bright  eyes  make  pardonable  ? 
What  dulness  may  not  red  lips  and 
sweet  accents  render  pleasant? 

Vanity  Fair,  chap,  xxxviii. 
[7] 


THACKERAY 

A  day  in  which  one  sees  a  very  pretty 
woman,  should  always  be  noted  as  a 
holiday  with  a  man  and  marked  with 
a  white  stone. 

Mr.  Brown's  Letters  to  His  Nephew. 

Nature  meant  very  gently  by  women 
when  she  made  that  tea-plant. 

Pendennis,  chap,  xxxii. 

@ 
The  women  can  master  us    and   did 
they    know    their    own    strength    were 
invincible. 

The  Virginians,  chap.  Ixiii. 

A  man  only  begins  to  know  women 
as  he  grows  old;  and  for  my  part  my 
opinion  of  their  cleverness  rises  every 
day. 

Mr.  Brown's  Letters  to  His  Nephew. 

But  almost  every  man  who  lives  in 

the  world  has  the  happiness,  let  us  hope, 

of  counting  a  few  such  persons  among 

his   circle   of   acquaintance — women    in 

[8] 


WOMEN 

whose  angelical  natures  there  is  some- 
thing awful,  as  well  as  beautiful  to 
contemplate;  at  whose  feet  the  wildest 
and  fiercest  of  us  must  fall  down  and 
humble  ourselves,  in  admiration  of  that 
adorable  purity,  which  never  seems  to 
do  or  think  wrong. 

Pendennis,  chap.  ii. 

Let  us  be  thankful  for  our  race,  as 
we  think  of  the  love  that  blesses  some 
of  us. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  xv. 
%) 
As  the  gambler  said   of   his   dice,   to 
love  and  win  is  the  best  thing,  to  love 
and  lose  is  the  next  best. 

Pendennis,  chap,  xxxix. 

Canst  thou,  O  friendly  reader,  count 
upon  the  fidelity  of  an  artless  and 
tender  heart  or  two,  and  reckon  among 
the  blessings  Heaven  hath  bestowed 
on  thee  the  love  of  faithful  women? 
Purify  thine  own  heart  and  try  to  make 
[9] 


THACKERAY 

it  worthy  theirs.  On  thy  knees,  on 
thy  knees,  give  thanks  for  the  blessing 
awarded  thee!  All  the  rewards  of  am- 
bition, wealth,  pleasure,  only  vanity 
and  disappointment — grasped  at  greed- 
ily and  fought  for  fiercely,  and  over 
and  over  again,  found  worthless  by  the 
weary  winners. 

The  Virginians,  chap.  xxi. 

When  one  thinks  of  country  houses, 
and  country  walks,  one  wonders  that 
any  man  is  left  unmarried. 

Pendennis,  chap.  Ixiii. 


Ah  me!  we  wound  where  we  never 
intended  to  strike;  we  create  anger 
where  we  never  meant  harm. 

Roundabout  Papers  —  Thorns  in  the 
Cushion. 

This    lady,    I    believe,    would    have 
abandoned  all  goals,  punishments,  hand- 
cuffs, whippings,  poverty,  sickness,  hun- 
ger, in  the  world ;  and  was  such  a  mean- 
[lo] 


WOME  N 

spirited  creature  that  —  we  are  obliged 
to  confess  it — she  could  even  forget 
a  mortal  injury. 

Vanity  Fair,  chap.  Ixv. 

Happy  it  is  to  love  when  one  is  hope- 
ful and  young  in  the  midst  of  smiles 
and  sunshine;  but  be  unhappy,  and 
then  see  what  it  is  to  be  loved  by  a 
good  woman! 

The  Great  Hoggarty  Diamond,  chap.  xi. 

® 
You  may  see,  by  the  above  letter  of 
Mrs.   Lambert,   that  she,  like  all  good 
women    (and,    indeed,    almost   all   bad 
women),   was  a   sentimental   person. 
The  Virginians,  chap.  xxi. 

A  perfectly  honest  woman,  a  woman 
who  never  flatters,  who  never  manages, 
who  never  cajoles,  who  never  conceals, 
who  never  uses  her  eyes,  who  never 
speculates  on  the  effect  which  she  pro- 
duces, who  never  is  conscious  of  un- 
[II] 


THACKERAY 

spoken  admiration,  what  a  monster,  I 
say,  would  such  a  female  be? 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  xlvi. 

This  only  we  will  say — that  a  good 
woman  is  the  loveliest  flower  that 
blooms  under  heaven ;  and  that  we  look 
with  love  and  wonder  upon  its  silent 
grace,  its  pure  fragrance,  its  delicate 
bloom  of  beauty. 

Pendennis,  chap.  li. 

You  have  but  the  same  four  letters 
to  describe  the  salute  which  you  perform 
on  your  grandmother's  forehead,  and 
that  which  you  bestow  on  the  sacred 
cheek  of  your  mistress;  but  the  same 
four  letters,  and  not  one  of  them  a 
labial. 

Pendennis,  chap.  xlvi. 

We  have  all  heard  of  the  dying  French 
Duchess,  who  viewed  her  coming  dis- 
solution and  subsequent  fate  so  easily 
because,   she   said,    she   was   sure   that 

[12] 


MEN 

Heaven  must  deal  politely  with  a  person 
of  her  quality. 

The  Newcomes,  chap,  xlviii. 

If  your  neighbor's  foot  obstructs  you, 
stamp  on  it;  and  do  you  suppose  he 
won't  take  it  away? 

The  Neivcomes,  chap.  viii. 

Men    serve    women    kneeling — when 
they  get  on  their  feet,  they  go  away. 
Pendennis,  chap.  xxx. 

® 
But   when   angered,    the   best   of  us 
mistake  our  own  motives,  as  we  do  those 
of  the  enemy  who  inflames  us. 

The  Newcomes,  chap,  l.xvi. 

The  little  ills  of  life  are  the  hardest 
to  bear,  as  we  all  very  well  know. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  Ixvi. 

Many  a  man  and  woman  have  been 
incensed     and    worshipped     and     have 
[13] 


THACKERAY 

shown  no  more  feeling  than  is  to  be 
expected  from  idols. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  xxi. 

If  I  choose  to  pass  over  an  injury, 
1  fear  'tis  not  from  a  Christian  and  for- 
giving spirit:  'tis  because  I  can  afford 
to  remit  the  debt,  and  disdain  to  ask  a 
settlement  of  it.  One  or  two  sweet 
souls  I  have  known  in  my  life  (and 
perhaps  tried)  to  whom  forgiveness  is 
no  trouble — a  plant  that  grows  natur- 
ally, as  it  were,  in  the  soil.  I  know 
how  to  remit  I  say,  not  forgive.  I 
wonder  are  we  proud  men  proud  of 
being  proud? 

The  Virginians,  chap.  Ixxxv. 

® 
Lucky  for  you,  and  for  others    like 
you,  that  in  spite  of  your  failings  and 
imperfections,  pure  hearts  pity  and  love 
you. 

English  Humorists  —  Hogarth,   Smol- 
lett, and  Fielding. 
[14] 


MEN 

And  however  old  and  toothless,  if 
you  have  done  wrong,  own  that  you 
have  done  so;  and  sit  down  and  say 
grace,  and  mumble  your  humble  pie! 

The  Adventures  of  Philip,  chap,  xxviii. 

Accusations  of  ingratitude,  and  just 
accusations  no  doubt,  are  made  against 
every  inhabitant  of  this  wicked  world; 
and  the  fact  is,  that  a  man  who  is  cease- 
lessly engaged  in  its  trouble  and  turmoil, 
borne  hither  and  thither  upon  the  fierce 
waves  of  the  crowd,  bustling,  shifting, 
struggling  to  keep  himself  somewhat 
above  water — fighting  for  reputation, 
or  more  likely  for  bread,  and  ceaselessly 
occupied  to-day  with  plans  for  appeas- 
ing the  eternal  appetite  of  inevitable 
hunger  to-morrow — a  man  in  such 
straits  has  hardly  time  to  think  of  any- 
thing but  himself,  and  as  in  a  sinking 
ship,  must  make  his  own  rush  for  the 
boats,  and  fight,  struggle,  and  trample 
for  safety. 

Critical  Reviews — George  Cruikshank. 
[15] 


THACKERAY 

No  Irishman  ever  gave  but  with  a 
kind  word  and  a  kind  heart. 

English  Humorists — Swift. 

We  perceive  in  every  man's  life  the 
maimed  happiness,  the  frequent  falHng, 
the  bootless  endeavor,  the  struggle  of 
Right  and  Wrong,  in  which  the  strong 
often  succumb  and  the  swift  fail. 

Pendennis,  chap.  Ixxv. 

Now  as  Nature  made  every  man  with 
a  nose  and  eyes  of  his  own,  she  gave 
him  a  character  of  his  own  too. 

Paris  Sketch  Book — On  the  French 
School  of  Painting. 

® 
How   happy   he  whose   foot  fits  the 
shoe  which   fortune  gives  him. 

The  Virginians,  chap.  xci. 
® 
What  is  the  dearest  praise  of  all  to 
a  man  ?  his  own — or  that  you  shall  love 
those  whom  he  loves.? 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  Ixxxiii. 
[i6] 


MEN 

We  all  hide  from  one  another.  We 
have  all  secrets.  We  are  all  alone.  We 
sin  by  ourselves,  and,  let  us  trust,  re- 
pent too. 

The  Virginians,  chap.  Ixxxv. 

What  good  woman  does  not  laugh  at 
her  husband's  or  father's  jokes  and 
stories  time  after  time,  and  would  not 
laugh  at  breakfast,  lunch,  and  dinner  if 
he  told  them? 

The  Neivcomes,  chap.  xl. 

If  the  best  men  do  not  draw  the  great 
prizes  in  life,  we  know  it  has  been  so 
settled  by  the  Ordainer  of  the  lottery. 
Pendennis,  chap.  Ixxv. 

Yesterday  is  the  philosopher's  prop- 
erty, and  by  thinking  of  it  and  using  it 
to  advantage,  he  may  gayly  go  through 
to-morrow,  doubtful  and  dismal  though 
it  be. 

Memorials  of  Gormandizing. 
[i7l 


THACKERAY 

The  world  is  so  wide,  and  the  tastes 
of  mankind  happily  so  various,  that 
there  is  always  a  chance  for  every  man, 
and  he  may  win  the  prize  by  his  genius 
or  by  his  good  fortune. 

PendenniSy  chap.  xli. 

It  is  a  sad  thing  to  think  that  a  man 
with  what  we  call  a  fund  of  anecdote 
is  a  humbug,  more  or  less  amiable  and 
pleasant. 

Roundabout  Papers — Notes  of  a  Week's 
Holiday. 

Ah,  sir — a  distinct  universe  walks 
under  your  hat  and  under  mine — all 
things  in  nature  are  different  to  each — 
the  woman  we  look  at  has  not  the  same 
features,  the  dish  we  eat  from  has  not 
the  same  taste  to  the  one  and  to  the 
other — you  and  I  are  but  a  pair  of 
infinite  isolations,  with  some  fellow- 
islands  a  little  more  or  less  near  to  us. 
Pendennis,  chap,  xvi, 
[i8] 


MEN 

He  was  thinking  what  a  mockery  life 
was,  and  how  men  refuse  happiness 
when  they  may  have  it;  or,  having  it, 
kick  it  down,  or  barter  it,  with  their 
eyes  open,  for  a  Httle  worthless  money 
or  beggarly  honor. 

Pendcnnis.  chap.  Ixvi. 

Kindnesses  are  easily  forgotten;  but 
injuries! — what  worthy  man  does  not 
keep  those  in  mind? 

Lovel  the  Widower,  chap.  i. 

It  was  the  first  step  in  life  that  Pen 
was  making  —  ah!  what  a  dangerous 
journey  it  is,  and  how  the  bravest  may 
stumble  and  the  strongest  fail.  Brother 
wayfarer,  may  you  have  a  kind  arm  to 
support  yours  on  the  path!  may  truth 
guide,  mercy  forgive  at  the  end,  and 
love  accompany  always! 

Peridennis,  chap.  xvii. 

You    shall    be    none    the    worse    to- 
morrow   for    having    been    happy    to- 
[19] 


THACKERAY 

day,   if    the   day  brings    no    action    to 
shame  it. 

The  Newcomes,  chap,  xxvii. 
@ 
A   single   man   who   has   health   and 
brains,   and  can't  find  a  livelihood   in 
the  world,  doesn't  deserve  to  stay  there. 
Pendennis,  chap.  xxi. 

The  great  world,  the  great  aggregate 
experience,  has  its  good  sense  as  it  has 
its  good  humor — it  detects  a  pretender 
as  it  trusts  a  loyal  heart. 

English  Humorists  —  Sterne  and 
Goldsmith. 

Which  is  the  most  reasonable  and 
does  his  duty  best :  he  who  stands  aloof 
from  the  struggle  of  life,  calmly  con- 
templating it,  or  he  who  descends  to  the 
ground,  and  takes  his  part  in  the  contest  ? 
Pendennis,  chap.  xliv. 

The  world,  it  is  pleasant  to  think,  is 
always  a  good  and  gentle  world  to  the 
[20] 


MEN 

gentle   and   good,   and   reflects   the   be- 
nevolence with  which  they  regard  it. 
Critical  Reviews — Laman  Blanchard. 


Nature  has  written  a  letter  of  credit 
upon  some  men's  faces,  which  is  honored 
almost  wherever  presented. 

The  Virginians,  chap.  xxi. 

Because  you  and  I  are  epicures,  or 
dainty  feeders,  it  does  not  follow  that 
Hodge  is  miserable  with  his  homely 
meal  of  bread  and  bacon. 

The  Virginians,  chap.  v. 

There's  some  particular  prize  we  all 
of  us  value,  and  that  every  man  of  spirit 
will  venture  his  life  for. 

Henry  Esmond,   Book  III,  chap.  iv. 

I  say,  lucky  is  the  man  whose  servants 
speak  well  of  him. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  xv. 

[21] 


THACKERAY 

Say  it  is  a  dream ;  say  it  passes ;  bet- 
ter   the    recollection    of    a    dream  than 
an  aimless  waking  from  a  blank  stupor. 
Pendennis,  chap.  Ixix. 

The  world  deals  good-naturedly  with 
good-natured  people,  and  I  never  knew 
a  sulky  misanthropist  who  quarrelled 
with  it,  but  it  was  he,  and  not  it,  that 
was  in  the  wrong. 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  I,  chap.  x. 
® 
Isn't  it  strange  that  in  the  midst  of  all 
the  selfishness,  that  one  of  doing  one's 
business  is  the  strongest  of  all  ?  What 
funny  songs  I  have  written  when  fit 
to  hang  myself. 

Letter  to  Mrs.  Brookfield. 

There  are  some  natures  which  are 
improved  and  softened  by  prosperity 
and  kindness  as  there  are  men  of  other 
dispositions  who  become  arrogant  and 
graceless  under  good  fortune. 

Pendennis,  chap.  xli. 

[22] 


MEN 

The  world  is  a  looking-glass,  and  gives 
back  to  every  man  the  reflection  of  his 
own  face.  Frown  at  it,  and  it  will  in- 
turn  look  sourly  upon  you.  Laugh  at 
it  and  with  it,  and  it  is  a  jolly  kind 
companion. 

Vanitv  Fair,  chap.  ii. 

Who  would  not  be  poor  if  he  could 
be  sure  of  possessing  genius  and  winning 
fame  and  immortality,  sir? 

The  Neivcomes,  chap.  iv. 

As   the   poet   has   observed — "  Those 
only  is  gentlemen  who  behave  as  sich." 
The  Irish  Sketch  Book — An  Invasion  of 
France.  ^^ 

A  man  is  seldom  more  manly  than 
when  he  is  what  you  call  unmanned. 
English  Humorists — Steele. 

I  know  there  is  nothing  like  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  classics  to  give  a  man  a  good 
breeding. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  v. 
[23] 


THACKERAY 

Men  have  all  sorts  of  motives  which 
carry  them  onward  in  life,  and  are 
driven  into  acts  of  desperation,  or  it 
may  be  of  distinction,  from  a  hundred 
different  courses, 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  III,  chap.  v. 

Whose  turn  may  it  be  to-morrow? 
What  weak  heart,  confident  before 
trial,  may  not  succumb  under  tempta- 
tion invincible?  Cover  the  good  man 
who  has  been  vanquished— cover  the 
face  and  pass  on. 

English  Humorists  —  Prior,  Gay, 
and  Pope. 

Be  sure,  sir,  that  idle  bread  is  the  most 
dangerous  of  all  that  is  eaten. 

The  Virginians,  chap,  xxviii. 

@ 
Surely  a  fine,  furious  temper,  if  ac- 
companied with  a  certain  magnanimity 
and  bravery  which   often  go   together 
with  it,  is  one  of  the  most  precious  and 
[24J 


MEN 

fortunate  gifts  with  which  a  gentleman 

or  lady  can  be  endowed. 

The  Newcomes,  chap,  xxxiii. 

@ 
There  are  some  who  never  can  pardon 

good  fortune,  and  in  the  company  of 

gentlemen  are  on  the  watch  for  offence. 

The  Adventures  of  Philip,  chap.  vi. 

A  man  will  lay  down  his  head  or 
peril  his  life  for  his  honor,  but  let  us  be 
shy  how  we  ask  him  to  give  up  his  ease 
or  his  heart's  desire. 

Pendennis,  chap,  xviii. 

But  the  most  sublime,  beautiful, 
fearful  sight  in  all  Nature  is,  surely, 
the  face  of  a  man;  wonderful  in  all  its 
expressions  of  grief  or  joy,  daring  or 
endurance,  thought,  hope,  love,  or  pain. 
Critical  Reviews — A  Pictorial  Rhapsody. 
<% 

He  is  such  an  ass,  and  so  respectable, 

that  one  wonders  he  has  not  succeeded 

in  the  world.         ,,       r^    ,  •     ,     t,   ,, 
Mrs.  Perkins  s  Ball. 

[25] 


THACKERAY 

Do  what  I  will,  be  innocent  or  spite- 
ful, be  generous  or  cruel,  there  are  A 
and  B  and  C  and  D  who  will  hate  me 
to  the  end  of  the  chapter — to  the 
chapter's  end — to  the  Finis  of  the  page 
— when  hate  and  envy  and  fortune  and 
disappointment  shall  be  over. 

Roundabout  Papers  —  Thorns  in  the 
Cushion. 

Why  the  deuce  will  men  make  light 
of  that  golden  calf  mediocrity,  which 
for  the  most  part  they  possess,  and 
strive  so  absurdly  at  the  sublime? 

Critical  Reviews — On  Men  and  Pictures. 

By  pushing  steadily,  nine  hundred 
and  ninety-nine  people  in  a  thousand 
will  yield  to  you.  Only  command 
persons,  and  you  may  be  pretty  sure 
that  a  good  number  will  obey. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  viii. 
@ 
So  a  man  dashes  a  fine  vase  down, 
and  despises  it   for  being  broken.     It 
[26] 


MEN 

may  be  worthless — true;  but  who  had 
the  keeping  of  it,  and  who  shattered  it  ? 
Henry  Esmond,  Book  I,  chap.  xii. 

What  man's  Hfe  is  not  overtaken  by- 
one   or   more   of   these   tornadoes   that 
send  us  out  of  the  course,  and  fling  us 
on  rocks  to  shelter  as  best  we  may  ? 
Henry  Esmond,  Book  I,  chap.  ii. 
@ 
One  man   goes   over    the    ice  which 
bears    him,    and    a    score    who    follow 
flounder  in. 

Pendennis,  chap.  xli. 

How  often  have  we  called  our  judge 
our  enemy  because  he  has  given  sen- 
tence against  us!  How  often  have  we 
called  the  right  wrong  because  the  right 
condemns  us! 

The  Paris  Sketch  Book — Mme.  Sand 
and  the  New  Apocalypse. 

Yes,  a  good  face,  a  good  address,  a 
good  dress,  are  each  so  many  points  in 
[27] 


THACKERAY 

the  game  of  life,  of  which  every  man  of 
sense  will  avail  himself. 

Mr.  Brown's  Letters  to  His  Nephew. 

® 
For  my  part  I  believe  that  remorse 
is  the  least  active  of  all  a  man's  moral 
senses  —  the  very  easiest  to  be  dead- 
ened when  wakened:  and  in  some  never 
wakened  at  all. — Vanity  Fair,  chap.  xli. 

® 
Words,    like    men,    pass    current    for 
awhile  with  the  public,  and,  being  known 
everywhere  abroad,  at  length  take  their 
places  in  society. 

English    Humorists  —  Congreve    and 
Addison.  ,^ 

What  character  of  what  great  man  is 
known  to  you?  You  can  but  make 
guesses  as  to  character  more  or  less 
happy.  In  common  life  don't  you 
often  judge  and  misjudge  a  man's  whole 
conduct,  setting  out  from  a  wrong  im- 
pression ? 

English  Humorists— Steele. 
[28] 


MEN 

Sin  in  man  is  so  light  that  scarce  the 
fine  of  a  penny  is  imposed;  while  for 
women  it  is  so  heavy  that  no  repentance 
can  wash  it  out. 

The  Newcomes,  chap,  xxviii. 

He  is  so  insufferably  affable  that 
every  man  near  him  would  like  to  give 
him  a  beating. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  xiii. 

Every  man,  however  brief  or  inglo- 
rious may  have  been  his  academical 
career,  must  remember  with  kindness 
and  tenderness  the  old  university  com- 
rades and  days. 

Pendennis,  chap.  xvii. 

So  it  is  that  what  is  grand  to  some 
persons'  eyes  appears  grotesque  to  oth- 
ers; and  for  certain  skeptical  persons, 
that  step  which  we  have  heard  of  be- 
tween the  sublime  and  the  ridiculous 
is  not  visible. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  xxx. 
[29] 


THACKERAY 

What  a  privilege  some  men  have 
who  can  sit  quietly  in  their  studies  and 
make  friends  all  the  world  over. 

Irish  Sketch  Book,  chap,  xxvii. 

His  affection  is  part  of  his  life.  What 
were  life  without  it?  Without  love,  I 
can  fancy  no  gentleman. 

The  Four  Georges. 
® 

What  would  the  possession  of  a 
hundred  thousand  a  year,  or  fame,  and 
the  applause  of  one's  countrymen,  or 
the  loveliest  and  best-beloved  woman — 
of  any  glory,  and  happiness,  or  good 
fortune,  avail  to  a  gentleman,  for  in- 
stance, who  was  allowed  to  enjoy  them 
only  with  the  condition  of  wearing  a 
shoe  with  a  couple  of  nails  or  sharp 
pebbles  inside  it? 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  Ixvi. 

A   person   always   ready   to   fight   is 
certain    of    the    greatest    consideration 
among  his   or   her   family   circle.     The 
[30] 


MEN 

lazy  grow  tired  of  contending  with  him ; 
the  timid  coax  and  flatter  him;  and  as 
almost  every  one  is  timid  or  lazy,  a  bad- 
tempered  man  is  sure  to  have  his  own  way. 
The  Newconies,  chap,  xxxiii. 

Most  of  us  play  with  edged  tools  at 
some  period  of  our  lives,  and  cut  our- 
selves accordingly. 

The  Virginians,  chap,  xxxiii. 

Many  a  man  fails  by  that  species  of 
vanity  called  shyness,  who  might,  for 
the  asking,  have  his  will. 

Pendennis,  chap.  xxiv. 

I  like  to  think  that  there  is  no  man 

but  has  had  kindly   feelings  for  some 

other,  and  he  for  his  neighbor,  until  we 

bind  together  the  whole  family  of  Adam. 

Journey  from  Cornhill  to  Cairo. 

@ 
Ah!  no  man  knows  his  strength  or  his 
weakness  till  occasion  proves  them. 
Henry  Esmond,  Book  II,  chap.  i. 
[31] 


THACKERAY 

'Tis  misfortune  that  awakens  in- 
genuity, or  fortitude,  or  endurance,  in 
hearts  where  these  qualities  had  never 
come  to  life  but  for  the  circumstance 
which  gave  them  a  being. 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  I,  chap.  ix. 

Did  you  ever  hear  or  read  four  words 
more  pathetic?  Only  a  woman's  hair; 
only  love,  only  fidelity,  only  purity, 
innocence,  beauty;  only  the  tenderest 
heart  in  the  world  stricken  and  wounded, 
and  passed  away  now  out  of  reach  of 
pangs  of  hope  deferred,  love  insulted, 
and  pitiless  desertion: — only  that  lock 
of  hair  left;  and  memory  and  remorse 
for  the  guilty,  lonely  wretch,  shuddering 
over  the  grave  of  his  victim. 
English  Humorists — Swift  and  ''Stella.'' 

He  paid  the  finest  compliment  to  a 

woman  that  perhaps  ever  was  offered. 

Of   one   woman,    whom   Congreve   had 

also  admired  and  celebrated,  Steele  says 

[32] 


MEN 

that  "to  have  loved  her  was  a  Hberal 
education." 

English  Humorists — Steele. 

Who  Hkes  a  man  best  because  he  is 
the  cleverest  or  the  wisest  of  mankind; 
or  a  woman  because  she  is  the  most 
virtuous,  or  talks  French,  or  plays  the 
piano  better  than  the  rest  of  her  sex  ? 
English  Humorists — Steele. 

I  have  seen  too  much  of  success  in 
life  to  take  off  my  hat  and  huzzah  to 
it  as  it  passes  by  in  its  gilt  coach;  and 
would  do  my  little  part  with  my  neigh- 
bors on  foot,  that  they  should  not  gape 
with  too  much  wonder,  nor  applaud  too 
loudly. 

Henry  Esmond  —  Introduction  to 
Book  I. 

Believe  me,  there  is  on  the  face  of  this 
world  no  scamp   like  an   English  one, 
no  blackguard   like  one  of  these  half- 
[33] 


THACKERAY 

gentlemen,  so  mean,  so  low,  so  vulgar — 

so  ludicrously  ignorant  and  conceited, 

so  desperately  heartless  and  depraved. 

The  Paris  Sketch  Book — An  Invasion 

of  France. 

Well,  well,  we  can't  be  all  roaring 
lions  in  this  world;  there  must  be  some 
lambs,  and  harmless,  kindly,  gregarious 
creatures  for  eating  and  shearing. 

Mrs.  Perkins's  Ball. 


What  is  it  to  be  a  gentleman?  Is  it 
to  have  lofty  aims,  to  lead  a  pure  life, 
to  keep  your  honor  virgin;  to  have  the 
esteem  of  your  fellow-citizens,  and  the 
love  of  your  fireside;  to  bear  good 
fortune  meekly;  to  suffer  evil  with 
constancy;  and  through  evil  or  good 
maintain  truth  always?  Show  me  the 
happy  man  whose  life  exhibits  these 
qualities,  and  we  will  salute  him  as 
gentleman. 

The  Four  Georges. 
[34] 


MEN 

And  so  indeed  Nature  does  make  some 
gentlemen — a  few  here  and  there.  But 
Art  makes  most. 

The  Second  Funeral  of  Napoleon. 

A  man  who  has  been  a-pleasuring  for 
twenty  years  begins  to  settle  down  as  a 
sort  of  domestic  character — not  gloomy 
nor   ill-tempered,   nor   peevish   nor  un- 
kind, but  a  sort  of  mild  melancholy. 
Letter  to  His  Mother. 
@ 
But  fortune,  good  or  ill,  as  I  take  it, 
does  not  change  men  and  women.     It 
but  develops  their  character. 

Henry  Esmond,   Book  II,  chap.  i. 

But  love  seems  to  survive  life,  and  to 
reach  beyond  it.  I  think  we  take  it 
with  us  past  the  grave.  Do  we  not  still 
give  it  to  those  who  have  left  us  ?  May 
we  not  hope  that  they  feel  it  for  us,  and 
that  we  shall  leave  it  here,  in  one  or  two 
fond  bosoms,  when  we  are  also  gone? 
The  Virginians,  chap.  xxi. 
[35] 


THACKERAY 

Who  misses  or  who  wins  the  prize, 
Go,  lose  or  conquer  as  you  can; 

But  if  you  fail,  or  if  you  rise. 
Be  each,  pray  God,  a  gentleman. 
Ballads — The  End  of  the  Play. 

Before  and  since  Mr.  Franklin  wrote 
his  pretty  apologue  of  the  whistle,  have 
we  not  all  made  bargains  of  which  we 
repented,  and  coveted  and  acquired 
objects  for  which  we  have  paid  too 
dearly? 

Roundabout  Papers — Autour  de  mon 
Chapeau. 

® 
And  so  there  are  other  glittering 
baubles  (of  rare  water  too),  for  which 
men  have  been  set  to  kill  and  quarrel 
ever  since  mankind  began;  and  which 
last  but  for  a  score  of  years,  when  their 
sparkle  is  over.  Where  are  those  jewels 
now  that  beamed  under  Cleopatra's 
forehead  or  shone  in  the  sockets  of 
Helen  ? 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  II,  chap.  vii. 
[36] 


MEN 

O,  be  humble,  my  brother,  in  your 
prosperity!     Be  gentle  with  those  who 
are  less  lucky,  if  not  more  deserving. 
Vanity  Fair,  chap.  Ixvii. 

@ 

There  is  scarce  any  thoughtful  man 
or  woman,  I  suppose,  but  can  look  back 
upon  his  course  of  past  life,  and  re- 
member some  point,  trifling  as  it  may 
have  seemed  at  the  time  of  its  occur- 
rence, which  has  nevertheless  turned 
and  altered  his  whole  career. 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  I,  chap.  xii. 

To-day  is  for  the  happy,  and  to- 
morrow for  the  young,  and  yesterday, 
is  not  that  dear  and  here,  too.'' 

The  Adventures  of  Philip,  chap.  xvii. 

Yesterday  is  gone — yes,  but  very 
well  remembered;  and  we  think  of  it 
the  more  now  we  know  to-morrow  is  not 
going  to  bring  us  much. 

The  Adventures  of  Philip,  chap.  vi. 
[37] 


THACKERAY 

But  what,  what  is  memory  ?  Memory 
without  Hope  is  but  a  negative  idiosyn- 
crasy, and  Hope  without  Memory,  a 
plant  that  has  no  root. 

Letter  to  Mrs.  Brookfield. 

I  believe  a  man  forgets  nothing.  I've 
seen  a  flower,  or  heard  a  trivial  word  or 
two,  which  have  awakened  recollections 
that  somehow  had  lain  dormant  for 
scores  of  years. 

The  Memoirs  of  Barry  Lyndon, 
chap.  xiv. 

There  is  a  certain  sort  of  man  whose 
doom  is  disappointment — who  excels  in 
it — and  whose  luckless  triumphs  in  his 
meek  career  of  life,  I  have  often  thought, 
must  be  regarded  by  the  kind  eyes 
above  us  with  as  much  favor  as  the 
splendid  successes  and  achievements  of 
coarser  and  more  prosperous  men. 
Journey   from   Cornhill   to   Cairo. 

A  comfortable  career  of  prosperity, 
E38] 


MEN 

if  it  does  not  make  people  honest,  at 
least  keeps  them  so. 

Vanity  Fair,  chap.  xli. 

Which  of  us  can  point  out  and  say 
that  was  .the  culmination — that  was 
the  summit  of  human  joy  ? 

Vanity  Fair,  chap.  Ixii. 

In  our  transatlantic  country  we  have 
a  season,  the  calmest  and  most  delight- 
ful of  the  year,  which  we  call  the  Indian 
summer;  I  often  say  the  autumn  of  our 
life  resembles  that  happy  and  serene 
weather,  and  am  thankful  for  its  rest 
and  its  sweet  sunshine. 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  I,  chap.  xiii. 

® 
Poverty  is  a  bully  if  you  are  afraid 
of  her  or  truckle   to   her.     Poverty   is 
good-natured  enough  if  you  meet  her 
like  a  man. 

The  Adventures  of  Philip,  chap.  xix. 
[39I 


THACKERAY 

Indeed,  calamity  is  welcome. to  wom- 
en if  they  think  it  will  bring  mutual 
affection  home  again;  and  if  you  have 
reduced  your  mistress  to  a  crust,  de- 
pend upon  it  that  she  won't  repine,  and 
only  take  a  very  little  bit  of  it  for  her- 
self provided  you  will  eat  the  remainder 
in  her  company. 

Pendennis,  chap,  xxxvii. 

And  that  is  a  point  whereon  I  suppose 
many  a  gentleman  has  reflected,  that, 
do  what  we  will,  we  are  pretty  sure  of 
the  woman's  love  that  once  has  been 
ours,  and  that  that  untiring  tenderness 
and  forgiveness  never  fails  us. 

Pendennis,  chap.  xxi. 

® 
In  the  name  of  my  wife  I  write  the 
completion  of  hope  and  the  summit  of 
happiness  —  and  to  think  of  her  is  to 
praise  God. 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  III,  chap.  xiii. 

Blessed  he — blessed  though  may  be 
[40] 


LOVE     AND     MARRIAGE 

undeserving — who    has    the    love    of   a 
good  woman. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  xlix. 

Happy!  who  is  happy?     Was  there 
not  a  serpent  in  Paradise  itself,  and  if 
Eve  had  been  perfectly  happy  before- 
hand, would  she  have  listened  to  him  ? 
The  Virginians,  chap.  ii. 

® 
A  house  with  a  wife  is  often  warm 
enough;  a  house  with  a  wife  and  her 
mother  is  rather  warmer  than  any  spot 
on  the  known  globe;  a  house  with  two 
mothers-in-law  is  so  excessively  hot  that 
it  can  be  likened  to  no  place  on  earth  at 
all,  but  one  must  go  lower  for  a  simile. 
A  Shabby  Genteel  Story,  chap.  vi. 

Indeed,  what  can  be  more  provoking, 
after  a  dispute  with  your  wife,  than  to 
find  it  is  you,  and  not  she,  who  has  been 
in  the  wrong? 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  xlix. 
[41] 


THACKERAY 

They  live  together,  and  they  dine  to- 
gether, and  they  say  "my  dear"  and 
"my  love"  as  heretofore;  but  the  man 
is  himself,  and  the  woman  herself;  that 
dream  of  love  is  over,  as  everything  else 
is  over  in  life;  as  flowers,  and  fury,  and 
griefs,  and  pleasures  are  over. 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  I,  chap.  vii. 
® 

Some  there  be  who  have  been  married, 
and  found  that  they  have  still  something 
to  see  and  to  do,  and  to  suffer  mayhap; 
and  that  adventures,  and  pains,  and 
pleasures,  and  taxes,  and  sunrises  and 
settings,  and  the  business  and  joys 
and  griefs  of  life  go  on  after,  as  before 
the  nuptial  ceremony. 

Rebecca  and  Rowena,  chap.  i. 
® 

Many  a  young  couple  of  spendthrifts 
get  through  their  capital  of  passion  in 
the  first  twelve  months,  and  have  no 
love  left  for  the  daily  demands  of  after 
life.  Oh  me !  for  the  day  when  the  bank- 
account  is  closed,  and  the  cupboard 
[42] 


LOVE     AND     MARRIAGE 

empty,    and    the    firm    of    Damon    and 
Phyllis  insolvent! 

The  Newcomes,  chap,  xxxvii. 

@ 
Ah,  Chloe!  To  be  good,  to  be  simple, 
to  be  modest,  to  be  loved  be  thy  lot. 
Be  thankful  thou  art  not  taller,  nor 
stronger,  nor  richer,  nor  wiser  than  the 
rest  of  the  world. 

Romidabout   Papers  —  A    Mississippi 
Bubble. 

And    so,    in   the   hour   of   their   pain 
myriads   of   manly   hearts   have   found 
woman's    love    ready    to    soothe    their 
anguish. 

The  Adventures  of  Philip,  chap.  xxv. 

When  my  ink  is  run  out,  and  my  little 
tale  is  written,  and  yonder  church  that 
is  ringing  to  seven  o'clock  prayers  shall 
toll  for  a  certain  D.D.,  you  will  please, 
good  neighbors,  to  remember  that  I 
never  loved  but  yonder  lady,  and  keep 
[43] 


THACKERAY 

a  place  by  Darby  for  Joan  when  her  turn 
shall  arrive. 

Denis  Duval,  Notes. 

All  good  women,  you  know,  are  sen- 
timental. The  idea  of  young  lovers, 
of  match-making,  of  amiable  poverty, 
tenderly  excites  and  interests  them. 

The  Adventures  of  Philip,  chap.  xxx. 

Ah  me!  how  quick  the  days  are  flitting! 
I  mind  me  of  a  time  that's  gone. 
When  here  I'd  sit,  as  now  I'm  sitting. 
In   this   same   place — but   not   alone. 
A  fair  young  form  was  nestled  near  me, 
A  dear,  dear  face  looked  fondly  up. 
And  sweetly  spoke  and  smiled  to  cheer  me 
— ^There's  no  one  now  to  share  my  cup. 
The  Ballad  of  Boullibaisse. 
® 
Ah!  dear  me,  we  are  most  of  us  very 
lonely  in  the  world.     You  who  have  any 
who  love  you,  cling  to  them,  and  thank 
God. 

Lovel  the  Widower,  chap.  vi. 
[44] 


LOVE     AND     MARRIAGE 

Few  fond  women  feel  money-distress- 
ed; indeed,  you  can  hardly  give  a  woman 
a  greater  pleasure  than  to  bid  her  pawn 
her  diamonds  for  the  man  she  loves. 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  I,  chap.  xiv. 

It  is  best  to  love  wisely,  no  doubt;  but 
to  love  foolishly  is  better  than  not  to 
be  able  to  love  at  all.     Some  of  us  can't, 
and  are  proud  of  our  impotence,  too. 
Pendennis,  chap.  vi. 

But  only  true  love  lives  after  you — 
follows  your  memory  with  secret  bless- 
ing— or  precedes  it  and  intercedes  for 
you. 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  II,  chap.  v. 

The  incidents  of  life,  and  love-making 
especially,  I  believe  to  resemble  each 
other  so  much  that  I  am  surprised, 
gentlemen  and  ladies,  you  read  novels 
any  more. 

The  Virginians,  chap,   xviii. 
4  [45] 


THACKERAY 

If  we  still  love  those  we  lose,  can  we 
altogether  lose  those  we  love  ? 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  xlv. 

Only  to  two  or  three  persons  in  all  the 
world  are  the  reminiscences  of  a  man's 
early  youth  interesting:  to  the  parent 
who  nursed  him;  to  the  fond  wife  or 
child  mayhap  afterward  who  love  him; 
to  himself  always  and  supremely. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  iv. 

There's  pity  and  love,  as  well  as  envy, 
in  the  heart  and  toward  the  same  person. 
Henry  Esmond,  Book  II,  chap.  v. 

From  the  loss  of  a  tooth  to  that  of  a 
mistress  there's  no  pang  that's  not 
bearable. 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  III,  chap.  iv. 

<® 
Sure,  love  vincit  omnia,  is  immeasur- 
ably above  all  ambition,  more  precious 
than  wealth;  more  noble  than  name. 
Henry  Esmond,  Book  III,  chap,  xiii, 
[46I 


LOVE     AND     MARRIAGE 

Of   course,    every    dutiful    man    tells 
everything  to  every  dutiful  wife. 
Adventures  of  Philip,  chap.  xxi. 

@ 
Warm  friendship  and  thorough  es- 
teem and  confidence,  are  safe  properties 
invested  in  the  prudent  marriage  stock, 
multiplying  and  bearing  an  increasing 
value  with  every  year. 

The  Newcomes,  chap,  xxxvii. 

But  don't  you  acknowledge  that  the 
sight  of  an  honest  man,  with  an  honest 
loving  wife  by  his  side,  and  surrounded 
by  loving  and  obedient  children,  pre- 
sents something  very  sweet  and  af- 
fecting to  you? 

The  Virginians,  chap.  xxi. 

True  love  is  better  than  glory;  and  a 
tranquil  fireside  with  the  woman  of  your 
heart  seated  by  it,  the  greatest  good  the 
gods  can  send  to  us. 

The  Virginians,  chap.  xxiv. 
[47] 


THACKERAY 

Who  does  not  know  of  eyes,  lighted  by 
love  once,  where  the  flame  shines  no 
more? — of  lamps  extinguished,  once 
properly  trimmed  and  tended  ?  Every 
man  has  such  in  his  house. 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  I,  chap.  xi. 

When  a  man  is  in  love  with  one  woman 
in  a  family,  it  is  astonishing  how  fond  he 
becomes  of  every  person  connected  with  it. 
The  Virginians,  chap.  xx. 

All  good  women  are  match-makers  at 
heart. 

Denis  Duval,  chap.  v. 

What  strange  mixture  of  pity  and 
pleasure  is  it  which  comes  over  you  some- 
times when  a  child  takes  you  by  the 
hand  and  leads  you  up  solemnly  to  some 
little  treasure  of  its  own — a  feather  or 
a  string  of  glass  beads?  I  declare  I 
have  often  looked  at  such  with  more  de- 
light than  at  diamonds. 

The  Irish  Sketch  Book,  chap.  vi. 
[48] 


CHILDHOOD 

They  call  that  room  the  nursery  still, 
and  the  little  wicket  still  hangs  at  the 
upper  stairs;  it  has  been  there  for  forty 
years — bon  Dieu!  Can't  you  see  the 
ghosts  of  little  faces  peering  over  it  ? — 
and  the  spirits  of  dolls,  and  tops  that 
turn  and  turn  but  don't  hum  ? 

Men's  Wives. 

The  enjoyments  of  boyish  fancy  are 
the  most  intense  and  delicious  in  the 
world. 

Joimiey  from  Cornhill  to  Cairo. 

Surely  no  man  can  have  better  claims 
to  sympathy  than  bravery,  youth,  good 
looks,  and  misfortune. 

The  Virginians,  chap.  vii. 

I  like  to  think  of  a  well-nurtured  boy, 
brave  and  gentle,  warm-hearted  and 
loving,  and  looking  the  world  in  the 
face  with  kind  honest  eyes. 

Pendennis,  chap.  iii. 
[49] 


THACKERAY 

Beside  the  old  hall  fire — upon  my  nurse's 

knee, 
Of  happy  fairy  days — what  tales  were 

told  to  me! 
I    thought    the    world    was    once — all 

peopled  with  princesses, 
And   my   heart  would   beat   to   hear — 

their  loves  and  their  distresses; 
And   many  a  quiet  night — in  slumber 

sweet  and  deep. 
The    pretty    fairy    people — would    visit 

me  in  sleep. 

Ballads — Fairy  Tales. 

And  yet  there  is  one  day  in  the  year 
when  I  think  St.  Paul's  presents  the 
noblest  sight  in  the  whole  world;  when 
five  thousand  charity  children,  with 
cheeks  like  nosegays  and  fresh  sweet 
voices,  sing  the  hymn  which  makes  every 
heart  thrill  with  praise  and  happiness. 
The  Four  Georges. 

Which  of  the  dead  are  most  tenderly 
and  passionately  deplored  ?    Those  who 
[50] 


CHILDHOOD 

love  the  survivors  the  least,  I  believe. 
The  death  of  a  child  occasions  a  passion 
of  grief  and  frantic  tears,  such  as  your 
end,  brother  reader,  will  never  inspire. 
Vanity  Fair,  chap.  Ixi. 

As  a  man  who  has  long  since  left  off 
being  amused  with  clown  and  harlequin, 
still  gets  a  pleasure  in  watching  a  child 
at  a  pantomime. 

Pendennis,  chap,  xxxvii. 

I  always  think  the  invention  of  toys 
and  toy-shops  a  very  beautiful  and  cred- 
itable part  of  human  nature.  And  it 
is  pleasant  to  see  in  all  fairs  and  fetes,  in 
all  watering-places  whither  people  flock 
for  pleasure,  how  many  simple  inven- 
tions are  gathered  together  for  the  mere 
amusement  of  children — innumerable. 
A  St.  Philip's  Day  at  Paris. 

Leave    him    occasionally    alone,    my 
good  madame,  if  you  have  a  poet  for  a 
[51] 


THACKERAY 

child.     Even     your     admirable    advice 
may  be  a  bore  sometimes. 

Pendennis,  chap.  iii. 

@ 
And  he,  at  least,  who  has  suffered  as 
a  child,  and  is  not  quite  perverted  in 
that  early  school  of  unhappiness,  learns 
to  be  gentle  and  long-suffering  with 
little  children. 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  I,  chap.  iii. 

I  smart  the  cruel  smart  again;  and 
boy  or  man,  have  never  been  able  to 
bear  the  sight  of  people  parting  from 
their  children. 

Roundabout  Papers — On  Two  Children 
In  Black. 

@ 
Wherefore  were  wings  made  and  do 
feathers  grow  but  that  birds  should 
fly  ?  The  instinct  that  bids  you  love 
your  nest  leads  the  young  ones  to  seek 
a  tree  and  a  mate  of  their  own. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  xxi. 
[52] 


YOUTH 

A  young  fellow  cannot  be  cast  down 
by  grief  and  misfortune  ever  so  severe 
but  some  night  he  begins  to  sleep  sound, 
and  some  day  when  dinner-time  comes 
to  feel  hungry  for  a  beefsteak. 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  II,  chap.  v. 

'Tis  an  error,  surely,  to  talk  of  the 
simplicity  of  youth.  I  think  no  persons 
are  more  hypocritical,  and  have  a  more 
affected  behavior  to  one  another,  than 
the  young. 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  I.,  chap.  ix. 

Cultivate,  kindly  reader,  those  friend- 
ships of  your  youth;  it  is  only  in  that 
generous  time  that  they  are  formed. 
How  different  the  intimacies  of  after 
days  are,  and  how  much  weaker  the 
grasp  of  your  own  hand  if  it  has  been 
shaken  about  in  twenty  years'  com- 
merce with  the  world,  and  has  squeezed 
and  dropped  a  thousand  equally  care- 
less palms. 

Pendennis,  chap.  Ixi. 
[53] 


THACKERAY 

To  draw  long  dreams  of  beauty,  love, 
and  power, 
From  founts  of  hope  that  never  will 
outrun, 
And  drink  all  life's  quintessence  in  an 
hour, 
Give  me  the  days  when  I  was  twenty- 
one. 

Ballads — The  Garret. 

And  young  fellows  are  honest,  and 
merry,  and  idle,  and  mischievous,  and 
timid,  and  brave,  and  studious,  and 
selfish,  and  generous,  and  mean,  and 
false,  and  truth-telling,  and  affectionate, 
and  good,  and  bad,  now  as  in  former  days. 
The  Adventures  of  Philip,  chap.  ii. 

His  courtesy  was  not  put  on  like  a 
Sunday  suit,  and  laid  by  when  the  com- 
pany went  away ;  it  was  always  the  same. 
Henry  Esmond,  Preface. 

Perhaps  he  had  a  love  affair  in  early 
life  which  he  had  to  strangle — perhaps 
[54] 


YOUTH 

all  early  love  affairs  ought  to  be  strangled 
or  drowned  like  so  many  blind  kittens. 
Pendennis,  chap.  viii. 

Some  boys  have  the  complaint  of  love 
favorably  and  gently.  Others,  when 
they  get  the  fever,  are  sick  unto  death 
with  it;  or,  recovering,  carry  the  marks 
of  the  malady  down  to  the  grave,  or  to 
remotest  old  age. 

The  Virginians,  chap,  xviii. 

A  man  gets  his  own  experience  about 
women,  and  will  take  nobody's  hearsay; 
nor,  indeed,  is  the  young  fellow  worth  a 
fig  that  would. 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  II,  chap.  ii. 

Sure,  occasion  is  the  father  of  most 
that  is  good  in  us. 

Henry  Esmond,  chap.  ix. 

There  are  people  who  in  their  youth 
have  felt  and  inspired  an  heroic  passion, 
[55] 


THACKERAY 

and  end  by  being  happy  in  the  caresses, 
or  agitated  by  the  illness,  of  a  poodle. 
Pendennis,  chap,  xlviii. 

® 

In  spite  of  his  brag  and  boast  to  the 
contrary,  he  was  too  young  as  yet  for 
women's  society,  which  probably  can 
only  be  had  in  perfection  when  a  man 
has  ceased  to  think  about  his  own 
person,  and  given  up  all  designs  of  being 
a  conquerer  of  ladies. 

Pendennis,  chap,  xlvii. 


And  if,  in  time  of  sacred  youth. 

We  learned  at  home  to  love  and  pray. 

Pray  Heaven  that  early  Love  and  Truth 
May  never  wholly  pass  away. 

Ballads — The  End  of  the  Play. 

%> 
To  be  young,  to  be  good-looking,  to  be 
healthy,  to  be  hungry  three  times  a  day, 
to  have  plenty  of  money,  a  great  alac- 
rity of  sleeping,  and  nothing  to  do — all 
[56] 


YOUTH 

these,  I  say,  are  very  dangerous  tempta- 
tions to  a  man. 

The  Adventures  of  Philip,  chap.  vi. 

Careless  prodigals  and  anxious  elders 
have  been  from  the  beginning — and  so 
may  love,  and  repentance,  and  for- 
giveness endure  even  till  the  end. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  xx. 

Might  I  give  counsel  to  any  young 
hearer,  I  would  say  to  him,  try  to  fre- 
quent the  company  of  your  betters. 
In  books  and  life  that  is  the  most  whole- 
some society;  learn  to  admire  rightly; 
the  great  pleasure  of  life  is  that. 

English  Humorists  —  Prior,  Gay,  and 
Pope. 

Wounds   heal  rapidly  in   a  heart  of 
two-and- twenty ;    hopes    revive    daily; 
and  courage  rallies  in  spite  of  a  man. 
Henry  Esmond,  Book  II,  chap.  v. 
® 
With    youth,    hope,    to-day,    and    a 
[57] 


THACKERAY 

couple    of   hundred    pounds    in    cash — 
no  young  fellow  need  despair. 

The  Virginians,  chap.  Ixxxi. 

What  money  is  better  bestowed  than 
that  of  a  school-boy's  tip?  How  the 
kindness  is  recalled  by  the  recipient  in 
after  days:  It  blesses  him  that  gives 
and  him  that  takes. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  xvi. 

There  is  scarce  any  parent,  however 
friendly  or  tender  with  his  children,  but 
must  feel  sometimes  that  they  have 
thoughts  which  are  not  his  or  hers;  and 
wishes  and  secrets  quite  beyond  the 
parental  control. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  xxi. 

Monsieur,  mon  fils — if  ever  you  marry, 
and  have  a  son,  I  hope  the  little  chap 
will  have  an  honest  man  for  a  grand- 
father, and  that  you  will  be  able  to  say 
"  I  loved  him  "  when  the  daisies  cover  me. 
Denis  Duval,  Notes. 
[58I 


YOUTH 

Yesterday,  in  the  street,  I  saw  a  pair 
of  eyes  so  like  two  which  used  to 
brighten  at  my  coming  once,  that  the 
whole  past  came  back,  as  I  walked 
slowly,  in  the  rush  of  the  Strand,  and  I 
was  young  again  in  the  midst  of  joys 
and  sorrows,  alike  sweet  and  sad,  alike 
sacred  and  fondly  remembered. 

Roundabout  Papers  —  On  Some  Carp 
at  San  Souci. 


It  is  curious  to  watch  that  facile  ad- 
miration and  simple  fidelity  of  youth. 
They  hang  around  a  leader  and  wonder 
at  him,  and  love  him,  and  imitate 
him. 

Pendennis,  chap,  xviii. 

My  dear  young  friend,  the  profitable 
way  in  life  is  the  middle  way.  Don't 
quite  believe  anybody,  for  he  may  mis- 
lead you;  neither  disbelieve  him,  for 
that  is  uncomplimentary  to  your  friend. 
Black  is  not  so  very  black;  and  as  for 
[59] 


THACKERAY 

white,  bon  Dieu!  in  our  climate  what 
paint  will  remain  white  long  ? 

The  Adventures  of  Philip,  chap.  vi. 
® 

The  tones  of  a  mother's  voice  speak- 
ing to  an  infant  play  the  deuce  with  me 
somehow;  that  charming  nonsense  and 
tenderness  work  upon  me  until  I  feel 
like  a  woman  or  a  great  big  baby 
myself. 

Letter  to  Mrs.  Brookfield. 

The  maternal  passion  is  a  sacred 
mystery  to  me.  What  one  sees  sym- 
bolized in  the  Roman  Catholic  churches 
in  the  image  of  the  Virgin  Mother  with 
a  bosom  bleeding  with  love  I  think  one 
may  witness  (and  admire  the  Almighty 
Bounty  for)  every  day.  I  saw  a  Jewish 
lady,  only  yesterday,  with  a  child  at  her 
knee,  and  from  whose  face  toward  the 
child  there  shone  a  sweetness  so 
angelical  that  it  seemed  to  form  a  sort 
of  glory  round  both. 

Pendennis,  chap.  xi. 
[60] 


MOTHERHOOD 

Do  not  you,  as  a  boy,  remember 
waking  of  bright  summer  mornings  and 
finding  your  mother  looking  over  you? 
Had  not  the  gaze  of  her  tender  eyes 
stolen  into  your  senses,  long  before  you 
woke,  and  cast  over  your  slumbering 
spirit  a  sweet  sense  of  peace,  and  love, 
and  fresh-springing  joy? 

Catherine,  chap.  xi. 

And  so  we  meet  and  part;  we  struggle 
and  succeed;  or  we  fail  and  drop  un- 
known on  the  way.  As  we  leave  the 
fond  mother's  knee,  the  rough  trials  of 
childhood  and  boyhood  begin;  and  then 
manhood  is  upon  us,  and  the  battle  of 
life,  with  its  chances,  perils,  wounds, 
defeats,   distinctions. 

Roundabout  Papers — On  Letts' s  Diary. 

As  we  go  on  the  down-hill  journey 
the  mile-stones  are  gravestones,  and  on 
each  more  and  more  names  are  written; 
unless  haply  you  live  beyond  man's 
common  age,  when  friends  have  dropped 
5  [6i] 


THACKERAY 

ofip,  and,  tottering,  and  feeble,  and  un- 
pitied,  you  reach  the  terminus  alone. 
Romtdabout  Papers — On  Letts' s  Diary. 

® 
For  is  not  a  young  mother  one  of  the 
sweetest  sights  which  life  shows  us? 
The  Newcomes,  chap.  li. 

>^ 
I  think  every  woman,  be  she  ever  so 
plain,  looks  beautiful  with  her  baby  at 
her  bosom. 
The  Great  Hoggarty  Diamond,  chap.  xii. 

Mother  is  the  name  for  God  in  the 
lips   and   hearts   of  little   children. 

Vanity  Fair,  chap,  xxxvii. 

® 
To  see  a  young  couple  loving  each 
other  is  no  wonder;  but  to  see  an  old 
couple   loving   each    other   is   the   best 
sight  of  all. 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  I,  chap.  xi. 

The  laugh  dies  out  as  we  get  old,  you 
[62] 


OLD     AGE 

see,  but  the  love  and  the  truth  don't, 
praised  be  God. 

Letter  to  Mrs.  Proctor. 

Ere  you  be  old,  learn  to  love  and 
pray. 

Vanity  Fair,  chap.  xiv. 

What!  is  love  sin,  that  it  is  so  pleasant 
at  the  beginning  and  so  bitter  at  the 
end  ? 

Pendennis,  chap,  xlvii. 

Next  to  the  very  young,  I  suppose  the 
very  old  are  the  most  selfish.     Alas!  the 
heart  hardens  as  the  blood  ceases  to  run. 
The  Virginians,  chap.  Ixii. 

And  so  we  get  to  understand  truth 
better,  and  grow  simpler  as  we  grow 
older. 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  I,  chap.  ix. 

Who  ordered  toil  as  the  condition  of 
life,  ordered  weariness,  ordered  sickness, 
[63] 


THACKERAY 

ordered  poverty,  failure,  success — to  this 
man  a  foremost  place,  to  the  other  a 
nameless  struggle  with  the  crowd — to 
that  a  shameful  fall,  or  paralyzed  limb, 
or  sudden  accident — to  each  some  work 
upon  the  ground  he  stands  on,  until  he 
is  laid  beneath  it. 

Pendennis,  chap.  xliv. 

If  the  sight  of  youthful  love  is  pleas- 
ant to  behold,  how  much  more  charm- 
ing the  aspect  of  the  affection  that  has 
survived  years,  sorrows,  faded  beauty 
perhaps,  and  life's  doubts,  differences, 
troubles ! 

The  Virginians,  chap,  xxxiii. 

We  view  the  world  with  our  own 
eyes,  each  of  us,  and  we  make  from 
within  us  the  world  we  see. 

English  Humorists — Swift. 

A  hundred  years  ago  people  of  the 
great  world  were  not  so  strait-laced  as 
[64] 


SOCIETY 

they  are  now,  when  everybody  is  good, 
pure,  moral,  modest;  when  there  is  no 
skeleton  in  anybody's  closet;  when  no 
girl  tries  to  sell  herself  for  wealth,  and 
no  mother  abets  her. 

The  Virginians,  chap.  xvii. 

To  be  rich,  to  be  famous?  What  do 
these  profit  a  year  hence,  when  other 
names  sound  louder  than  yours,  when 
you  lie  hidden  away  under  the  ground, 
along  with  idle  titles,  engraven  on  your 
cofifin? 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  II,  chap.  vi. 

Society  has  this  good  at  least:  that 
it  lessens  our  conceit  by  teaching  our 
insignificance,  and  making  us  acquaint- 
ed with  our  betters. 

The  Virginians,  chap,  xxiii. 

If  they  were  not  the  roses,  they  lived 
near  the  roses,  as  it  were,  and  had  a 
good  deal  of  the  odor  of  genteel  life. 

Pendennis,  chap.  ii. 

[65] 


THACKERAY 

There  are  people  upon  whom  rank 
and  worldly  goods  make  such  an  im- 
pression that  they  naturally  fall  down 
on  their  knees  and  worship  the  owners; 
there  are  others  to  whom  the  sight  of 
Prosperity  is  offensive,  and  who  never 
see  Dives'  chariot  but  to  growl  and  hoot 
at  it. 

The  Newcom.es,  chap.  v. 

A  Londoner,  who  sees  fresh  faces  and 
yawns  at  them  every  day,  may  smile  at 
the  eagerness  with  which  country  people 
expect  a  visitor. 

Pendennis,  chap.  xxii. 


Oh  Vanity  of  Vanities! 
How  wayward  the  decrees  of  Fate  are; 
How  very  weak  the  very  wise. 
How  very  small  the  very  great  are! 
Ballads — Vanitas  Vanitatum. 

O  mighty  Fate,  that  over  us  miser- 
able mortals  rulest  supreme,  with  what 
small    means    are    thy    ends    effected! 
[66] 


SOCIETY 

With  what  scornful  ease  and  mean 
instruments  does  it  please  thee  to  govern 
mankind!  Let  each  man  think  of  the 
circumstances  of  his  life  and  how  its 
lot  has  been  determined!  The  getting 
up  a  little  earlier  or  later;  the  turning 
down  this  street  or  that;  the  eating  of 
this  dish  or  the  other  may  influence  all 
the  years  and  actions  of  a  future  life. 
A  Shabby  Genteel  Story,  chap.  v. 

We  can  apply  the  snob  test  to  him 
and  try  whether  he  is  conceited  .  .  .  and 
proud  of  his  own  narrow  soul.  How 
does  he  treat  a  great  man  ?  How  regard 
a  small  one? 
Book  of  Snobs,  Concluding  Observations. 

He  who  meanly  admires  mean  things 
is  a  snob. 

Book  of  Snobs,  chap.  ii. 

What    is    sheer    hate    seems,    to    the 
individual    entertaining    the    sentiment, 
so  like  indignant  virtue,  that  he  often 
[67] 


THACKERAY 

indulges  in  the  propensity  to  the  full, 
nay,  lauds  himself  for  the  exercise  of  it. 
The  Newcomes,  chap.  Ixiv. 

Because  an  eagle  houses  on  a  moun- 
tain or  soars  to  the  sun,  don't  you  be 
angry  with  a  sparrow  that  perches  on  a 
garret  window  or  twitters  on  a  twig. 
Journey  from  Cornhill  to  Cairo,  chap.  v. 

If  success  is  rare  and  slow,  everybody 
knows  how  quick  and  easy  ruin  is. 

Vanity  Fair,  chap,  xviii. 

® 
I  think  it  is  one  test  of  gentility  to  be 
looked  down  on  by  vulgar  people. 
A  Shabby  Genteel  Story,  chap.  i. 

Who  was  the  blundering  idiot  who 
said  that  "  fine  words  butter  no 
parsnips"  ?  Half  the  parsnips  of  society 
are  served  and  rendered  palatable  with 
no  other  sauce. 

Vanity  Fair,  chap.  xix. 
[68] 


SOCIETY 

And  in  the  world,  as  in  the  school, 
I'd    say,   how   fate  may  change  and 
shift; 

The  prize  be  sometimes  with  the  fool, 
The  race  not  always  to  the  swift. 

The  strong  may  yield,  the  good  may  fall. 

The  great  man  be  a  vulgar  clown, 
The  knave  be  lifted  over  all. 
The  kind  cast  pitilessly  down. 
Ballads — The  End  of  the  Play. 
® 
Stinginess    is    snobbish.     Ostentation 
is    snobbish.     Too    great    profusion    is 
snobbish. 

The  Book  of  Snobs,  chap.  xix. 

And  as  the  poet  has  told  us  how,  not 
out  of  a  wide  landscape  merely,  or  a 
sublime  expanse  of  stars,  but  of  any 
very  humble  thing,  we  may  gather  the 
same  delightful  reflections,  as  out  of  a 
small  flower,  that  brings  us  "  thoughts 
that  too  often  lie  too  deep  for  tears" 
-^in  like  manner  we  do  not  want  grand 
[69I 


THACKERAY 

pictures  and  elaborate  yards  of  canvas 
so  to  affect  us,  as  the  lover  of  drawing 
must  have  felt  in  looking  at  the  Raphael 
designs  lately  exhibited  in  London. 
These  were  faint  scraps,  mostly  from 
the  artist's  pencil — small  groups,  un- 
finished single  figures,  just  indicated, 
but  the  divine  elements  of  beauty  were 
as  strong  in  them  as  in  the  grandest 
pieces;  and  there  were  many  little 
sketches,  not  half  an  inch  high,  which 
charmed  and  affected  one  like  the  violet 
did  Wordsworth,  and  left  one  in  that 
unspeakable,  complacent,  grateful  con- 
dition which,  as  I  have  been  endeavor- 
ing to  state,  is  the  highest  aim  of 
art. 
Critical  Reviews — A  Pictorial  Rhapsody. 

There  is  a  higher  ingredient  in  beau- 
ty than  mere  form;  a  skilful  hand  is 
only  the  second  artistic  quality  worth- 
less without  the  first,  which  is  a  great 
heart. 

Critical  Reviews — A  Pictorial  Rhapsody. 
[70] 


ART 

And  if  I  might  be  allowed  to  give  a 
hint  to  amateurs  concerning  pictures  and 
their  merit,  I  would  say,  look  to  have 
your  heart  touched  by  them.  Skill  and 
handling  are  great  parts  of  a  painter's 
trade,  but  heart  is  the  first;  this  is  God's 
direct  gift  to  him,  and  cannot  be  got  in 
any  academy  or  under  any  master. 
Critical  Reviews — .4  Pictorial  Rhapsody. 

Some  day  our  spirits  may  be  per- 
mitted to  walk  in  galleries  of  fancies 
more  wondrous  and  beautiful  than  any 
achieved  works  which  at  present  we  see, 
and  our  minds  to  behold  and  delight 
in  masterpieces  which  poets'  and  artists' 
minds  have  fathered  and  conceived. 

Roundabout  Papers — The  Last  Sketch. 

A  man's  sketches  and  his  pictures 
should  never  be  exhibited  together. 
The  sketches  invariably  kill  the  pict- 
ures; are  far  more  vigorous,  masterly, 
and  effective. 

Critical  Reviews — A  Pictorial  Rhapsody. 
[71] 


THACKERAY 

It  was  a  fete  day;  a  mass  of  Mozart 
was  sung  in  the  evening — not  well  sung, 
and  yet  so  exquisitely  tender  and 
melodious  that  it  brought  tears  into 
our  eyes. 

Little  Travels — Bruges. 

There  is  no  blinking  the  fact  that  in 
Mr.  Punch's  cabinet,  John  Leech  is  the 
right-hand  man.  Fancy  a  number  of 
Punch  without  Leech's  pictures  ? .  .  .  The 
truth,  the  strength,  the  free  vigor,  the 
kind  humor,  in  depicting  the  public  man- 
ners,  in  arresting,  amusing  the  nation. 

Critical  Reviews  —  Pictures  of  Life 
and  Character. 

Art  is  truth,  and  truth  is  religion, 
and  its  study  and  practice  a  daily  work 
of  pious  duty. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  Ixv. 

® 
In  speaking  of  a  work  of  consummate 
art,  one   does   not   try   to   show  what 
[72] 


ART 

it  actually  is,  for  that  were  vain;  but 
what  it  is  like,  and  what  are  the  sensa- 
tions produced  in  the  mind  of  him  who 
views  it. 

English  Humorists  —  Prior,  Gay,  and 
Pope. 

Perhaps  by  the  greatest  stretch  of 
the  perhaps,  it  may  be  that  Raphael  was 
every  whit  as  divine  at  thirty  as  at 
eighteen ;  and  that  the  very  quaintnesses 
and  imperfections  of  manner  observable 
in  his  early  works  are  the  reasons  why 
they  appear  so  singularly  pleasing  to  me. 

Critical  Reviews — A  Pictorial  Rhap- 
sody. 

A  poet  must  retire  to  privy  pli^ces  and 
meditate  his  rhymes  in  secret;  a  painter 
can  practise  his  trade  in  the  company 
of  friends. 

The  Newcomes,  chap,  xxxix. 

I  think  happiness  is  as  good  as  prayers, 
and  I  feel  in  my  heart  a  kind  of  over- 
[73] 


THACKERAY 

flowing  thanksgiving,  which  is  quite  too 
great  to  describe  in  writing.  This  kind 
of  happiness  is  hke  a  fine  picture,  you 
only  see  a  Uttle  bit  of  it  when  you  are 
close  to  the  canvas — go  a  little  distance 
and  then  you  will  see  how  beautiful  it  is. 
Letter  to  His  Mother, 

@ 
What  a  marvellous  power  is  this  of  the 
painters!     How    each    great    man    can 
excite  us  at  his  will!     What  a  weapon 
he  has,  if  he  knows  how  to  wield  it! 
Critical   Reviews — A    Pictorial  Rhap- 
sody. 

When  I  saw  the  great  Venus  of  the 
Louvre,  I  thought — Wert  thou  alive, 
O  goddess,  thou  shouldst  never  open 
those  lovely  lips  but  to  speak  lowly, 
slowly;  thou  shouldst  never  descend 
from  that  pedestal  but  to  walk  stately 
to  some  near  couch,  and  assume  an- 
other attitude  of  beautiful  calm. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  xxv. 
[74] 


ART 

The  Venus  of  Milo  is  the  grandest 
figure  of  figures.  The  wave  of  the  lines 
of  the  figure,  whenever  seen,  fills  my 
senses  with  pleasure.  What  is  it  which 
so  charms,  satisfied  one  in  certain  lines  ? 
Letter  to  Mrs.  Brookfield. 

I  think  you  have  in  your  breast  some 
of  that  sacred  fire  that  lighted  the  bosom 
of  Raphael  Sanctus,  esquire  of  Urbino, 
he  being  a  young  man — a  holy  kind  of 
Sabbath  repose — a  calm  that  comes  not 
of  feeling,  but  of  the  overflowing  of  it — 
a  tender  yearning  sympathy  and  love 
for  God's  beautiful  world  and  creatures. 

Critical  Reviews — A  Pictorial  Rhap- 
sody. 

Art  ought  not  to  be  a  fever.  It 
ought  to  be  a  calm. 

The  Newcotnes,  chap.  xxii. 

But  remember  that  every  man  who 
has  been  worth  a  fig  in  this  world,  as 
[75] 


THACKERAY 

poet,   painter,   or  musician,  has  had  a 
good  appetite  and  a  good  taste. 

Memorials  of  Gormandizing. 

In  certain  minds,  art  is  dominant  and 
superior  to  allbeside — stronger  than  love, 
stronger  than  hate,  or  care,  or  penury. 
The  Adventures  of  Philip,  chap.  vi. 

I  have  endured  poverty,  but  scarcely 
ever  found  it  otherwise  than  tolerable; 
had  I  not  undergone  it,  I  never  would 
have  known  the  kindness  of  friends,  the 
delight  of  gratitude,  the  surpassing  joys 
and  consolations  which  sometimes  ac- 
company the  scant  meal  and  narrow 
fire,  and  cheer  the  long  day's  labor. 

The  Virginians,  chap.  Ixxxi. 
® 
As  you  can  seldom  fashion  your  tongue 
to  speak  a  new  language  after  twenty, 
the  heart  refuses  to  receive  friendship 
pretty  soon;  it  gets  too  hard  to  yield  to 
the  impression. 

Pendennis. 
[76] 


FRIENDSHIPS 

A  weary  heart  gets  no  gladness  out 
of  sunshine;  a  selfish  man  is  skeptical 
about  friendship,  as  a  man  with  no  ear 
doesn't  care  for  nmsic. 

English  Humorists — Swift. 

We  are  glad  to  see  an  old  friend, 
though  we  do  not  weep  when  he  leaves. 
We  humbly  acknowledge,  if  fate  call 
us  away  likewise,  that  we  are  no  more 
missed  than  any  other  atom. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  xl. 

Better  to  be  alone  in  the  world,  and 
utterly  friendless,  than  to  have  sham 
friends,  and  no  sympathy. 

A  Shabby  Genteel  Story,  chap.  i. 

Dear  friendly  eyes,  with  constant  kind- 
ness lit, 
However  rude  my  verse,  or  poor  my  wit, 
Or  sad  or  gay  my  mood,  you  welcome  it. 
Ballads — The  Pen  and  The  Album. 

® 
Fortunate  he,  however  poor,  who  has 
6  [77] 


THACKERAY 

friends  to  help  and  love  to  console  him 
in  his  trials. 

The  Adventures  of  Philip,  chap,  xxxix. 

So  each  shall  mourn,  in  life's  advance, 
Dear  hopes,  dear  friends,  untimely- 
killed  ; 

Shall  grieve  for  many  a  forfeit  chance, 
And  longing  passion  unfulfilled. 

Amen!  whatever  fate  be  sent. 

Pray  God  the  heart  may  kindly  glow, 

Although  the  head  with  cares  be  bent, 
And  whitened  with  the  winter  snow. 
Ballads — The  End  of  the  Play. 


If  you  die  to-morrow,  your  dearest 
friend  will  feel  a  hearty  pang  of  sorrow, 
and  go  to  his  business  as  usual. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  Ixxv. 

Blessing  the  happy  hour  when  a  friend 

he  knew 
So  gentle,  and  so  generous,  and  so  true. 

Ballads — Tlie  Pen  and  The  Album. 
[78] 


HEROISM 

Whene'er  I  write  your  name,  may  I 
write  friend! 

Ballads — The  Pen  and  The  Album. 

Washington  inspiring  order  and  spirit 
into  troops  hungry  and  in  rags;  stung 
by  ingratitude,  but  betraying  no  anger, 
and  ever  ready  to  forgive;  in  defeat 
invincible,  magnanimous  in  conquest, 
and  never  so  sublime  as  on  that  day 
when  he  laid  down  his  victorious  sword 
and  sought  his  noble  retirement;  here, 
indeed,  is  a  character  to  admire  and  to 
revere;  a  life  without  a  stain,  a  fame 
without  a  flaw. 

The  Virginians,  chap.  Ixxxvii. 

You  see  there  come  moments  of  sorrow 
after  the  most  brilliant  victories;  and  you 
conquer  and  rout  the  enemy  utterly,  and 
then  regret  that  you  have  fought. 

The  Newcomes,  chap,  xxxiii. 
@ 
In  the  battle  of  life,  are  we  all  going 
to  try  for  the  honors  of  championship  ? 
[79] 


THACKERAY 

If  we  can  do  our  duty,  if  we  can  keep 
our  place  pretty  honorably  through  the 
combat,  let  us  say,  Lans  Deo!  at  the 
end  of  it,  as  the  firing  ceases,  and  the 
night  falls  over  the  field. 

Roundabout  Papers — De  Juventute. 

What  generals  some  of  us  are  upon 
paper;  what  repartees  come  to  our 
mind  when  the  talk  is  finished;  and  the 
game  over,  how  well  we  see  how  it 
should  have  been  played! 

The  Virginians,  chap.  Ixxiv. 

@ 
But    have    we    not    all    been    misled 
about    our    heroes,    and    changed    our 
opinions  a  hundred  times? 

Vanity  Fair,  chap.  Ixii. 

® 

Think   of   the   dangers   these   seamen 

undergo   for   us;   the   hourly   peril   and 

watch;  the  familiar  storm;  the  dreadful 

iceberg ;  the  long  winter  nights  when  the 

decks  are  as  glass,  and  the  sailor  has  to 

[80] 


HEROISM 

climb  through  icicles  to  bend  the  stiff 
sail  on  the  yard !  Think  of  their  courage 
and  their  kindness  in  cold,  in  tempest, 
in  hunger,  in  wreck. 

Roundabout  Papers — On  Ribbons. 
@ 
We  may  not  win  the  baton  or  epau- 
lettes;    but    God    give    us    strength    to 
guard  the  honor  of  the  flag! 

Roundabout  Papers — Nil  Nisi  Bonuni. 

<@ 
Time  out  of  mind,  strength  and 
courage  have  been  the  theme  of  bards 
and  romances;  and  from  the  story  of 
Troy  down  to  to-day,  poetry  has  al- 
ways chosen  a  soldier  for  a  hero. 

Vanity  Fair,  chap.  xxx. 
® 
No  more  firing  was  heard  at  Brussels 
— the  pursuit  rolled  miles  away.  Dark- 
ness came  down  on  the  field  and  city; 
and  Amelia  was  praying  for  George  who 
was  lying  on  his  face,  dead,  with  a  bullet 
through  his  heart. 

Vanity  Fair,  chap,  xxxii. 
[8i] 


THACKERAY 

He   fought   a   thousand   glorious   wars, 
And  more  than  half  the  world  was  his ; 

And  somewhere  now,  in  yonder  stars. 
Can  tell  mayhap,  what  greatness  is. 
Of  Napoleon  in   The  Chronicle  of  the 
Drum. 


A  good  dinner  is  the  centre  of  the 
circle  of  the  social  sympathies — it  warms 
acquaintanceship  into  friendship  —  it 
maintains  that  friendship  comfortably, 
unimpaired;  enemies  meet  over  it  and 
are  reconciled. 

Essays — Greenwich  Whitebait. 

Sir,  Respect  Your  Dinner;  idolize  it, 
enjoy  it  properly.  You  will  be  many 
hours  in  the  week,  many  weeks  in  the 
year,  and  many  years  in  your  life,  the 
happier  if  you  do. 

Essays — Memorials  of  Gormandizing. 


Good  dinners  have  been  the  greatest 
[82] 


GOOD     CHEER 

vehicles  of  benevolence  since  man  began 
to  eat. 

Essays — Greenwich  Whitebait. 

What,  indeed,  does  not  that  word 
"  cheerfulness  "  imply  ?  It  means  a  con- 
tented spirit:  it  means  a  pure  heart;  it 
means  a  kind  and  loving  disposition; 
it  means  humility  and  charity ;  it  means 
a  generous  appreciation  of  others  and  a 
modest  opinion  of  self. 

Mr.  Brown  s  Letters  to  His  Nephew. 

For  my  part  I  never  found  any  harm 
of  castle-building,  but  a  great  deal  of 
pleasure. 

The  Great  Hoggarty  Diamond,  chap.  ix. 

@ 
What  a  deal  of  grief,  care,  and  other 
harmful  excitement,  does  a  healthy  dul- 
ness  and  cheerful  insensibility  avoid! 
Pendennis,  chap.  xvi. 
@ 
I  vow  and  believe  that  the  cigar  has 
been    one    of    the    greatest    creature- 
[83] 


THACKERAY 

comforts  of  my  life — a  kind  companion, 
a  gentle  stimulant,  an  amiable  anodyne, 
a  cementer  of  friendship. 

Mr.  Brown's  Letters  to  His  Nephew. 


The  pipe  draws  wisdom  from  the  lips 
of  the  philosopher,  and  shuts  up  the 
mouth  of  the  foolish. 

Mr.  Brown's  Letters  to  His  Nephew. 

There  is,  however,  a  cheap  and  de- 
lightful way  of  travelling  that  a  man 
may  perform  in  his  easy-chair,  without 
expense  of  passports  or  post-bags.  On 
the  wings  of  a  novel,  from  the  next  cir-- 
culating  library,  he  sends  his  imagina- 
tion a-gadding,  and  gains  acquaintance 
with  people  and  manners  whom  he  could 
not  hope  otherwise  to  know. 

The  Paris  Sketch  Book — Some  French 
Fashionable  Novels. 
® 

And,    indeed,    when    a    man    travels 
alone,  it  is  wonderful  how  little  he  cares 
to    select    his    society;    how    indifferent 
[84] 


TRAVEL  —  DULNESS 

company  pleases  him;  how  sorry  he  is 
when  the  time  for  parting  comes,  and 
he  has  to  walk  off  alone,  and  begin  the 
friendship    hunt    over    again. 

The  Irish  Sketch  Book,  chap.  x. 

How  one's  thoughts  will  travel!  and 
how  quickly  our  wishes  beget  them! 
Pendennis,  chap.  ii. 

What  is  it  that  is  so  respected  and 
prosperous  as  good,  honest,  emphatic, 
blundering  dulness,  bellowing  common- 
places with  its  great,  healthy  lungs; 
kicking  and  struggling  with  its  big  feet 
and  fists,  and  bringing  an  awe-stricken 
public  down  on  its  knees  before  it  ? 

Critical     Reviews  —  On     Men     and 
Pictures. 

® 

A    dullard   recognizes   no   betters;    a 

dullard  can't  see  that  he  is  in  the  wrong; 

a  dullard  has  no  scruples  of  conscience, 

no  doubts  of  pleasing  or  succeeding,  or 

[85] 


THACKERAY 

doing  right ;  no  qualms  for  other  people's 
feelings,  no  respect  but  for  the  fool 
himself. 

Men's  Wives. 


There  is  a  quality  in  certain  people 
which  is  above  all  advice,  exposure,  or 
correction.  Only  let  a  man  or  woman 
have  dulness  sufficient,  and  they  need 
bow  to  no  extant  authority. 

Men's  Wives. 

And  the  great  quality  of  Dulness  is  to 
be  unalterably  contented  with  itself. 

Men's  Wives. 
%> 
A  Pharisee  may  put  pieces  of  gold  into 
the  charity-plate  out  of  mere  hypocrisy 
and  ostentation,  but  the  bad  man's 
gold  feeds  the  widow  and  the  fatherless 
as  well  as  the  good  man's. 

Charity  and  Humor. 

® 
Men  are  ostentatious,  but  charitable, 
too.     The  very  fact  of  giving  away  large 
[86] 


CHARITY     AND     HUMOR 

sums  for  ostentation's  sake   must  gen- 
erate a  feeling  of  kindness. 

.4  St.  Philip's  Day  at  Paris. 

Oh,    glorious,    god-like    privilege    of 
wealth,  to  make  the  wretched  happy! 
A  St.  Philip's  Day  at  Paris. 

Humor!  if  tears  are  the  alms  of  the 
gentle  spirits,  and  may  be  counted,  as 
sure  they  may,  among  the  sweetest  of 
life's  charities — of  that  kindly  sen- 
sibility, and  sweet  sudden  emotion, 
which  exhibits  itself  at  the  eyes,  I  know 
of  no  such  provocative  as  humor. 

Charity  and  Humor. 

Humor!    humor    is    the    mistress    of 

tears;  she  has  refreshed  myriads  more 

from  her  natural  founts  than  ever  tragedy 

has  watered  from  her  pompous  old  urn. 

Charity  and  Humor. 

@ 
For  of  all  diets,  good  humor  is  the 
most  easy  of  digestion;  if  it  does  not 
[87] 


THACKERAY 

create  that  mad  boisterous  flow  of 
spirits  which  greater  excitement  causes, 
it  has  yet  a  mirth  of  its  own,  pleasanter, 
truer,  and  more  lasting  than  the  in- 
toxication of  sparkhng  satire. 

Critical  Reviews — A  Box  of  Novels. 

® 

Stupid  people,  people  who  do  not 
know  how  to  laugh,  are  always  pom- 
pous and  self-conceited;  that  is,  bigoted; 
that  is,  cruel;  that  is,  ungentle,  un- 
charitable, unchristian. 

Mr.  Browns  Letters  to  His  Nephew. 

.  .  .  but  many  a  day  passes  without  a 
good  joke.   Let  us  cherish  those  that  come. 
Critical  Reviews. 
® 
The  satire  of  people  who  have  little 
natural  humor  is  seldom  good  sport  for 
bystanders. 

The  Virginians,  chap.  xiii. 


The  best  criterion  of  good  himior  is 
success,  and  what  a  share  of  this  has 
[88] 


DAY     AND     NIGHT 

Mr.  Cruikshank  had !  how  many  millions 
of  mortals  has  he  made  happy! 

Critical  Reviews — George  Cruikshank. 

@ 
The  rose  upon  my  balcony  the  morning 
air  perfuming, 
Was  leafless  all  the  winter-time  and 
pining  for  the  spring; 
You  ask  me  why  her  breath  is  sweet, 
and  why  her  cheek  is  blooming; 
It  is  because  the  sun  is  out  and  the 

birds  begin  to  sing. 
Ballads — The  Rose  Upon  My  Balcony. 

And  when  its  force  expended, 
The  harmless  storm  was  ended, 
And  as  the  sunrise  splendid, 

Came  blushing  o'er  the  sea, 
I  thought  as  day  was  breaking. 
My  little  girls  were  waking. 
And  smiling,  and  making 

A  prayer  at  home  for  me. 
Ballads — The  White  Squall. 

And  lo !  in  a  flash  of  crimson  splendor, 
[89] 


THACKERAY 

with  blazing  scarlet  clouds  running 
before  his  chariot,  and  heralding  his 
majestic  approach,  God's  sun  rises  upon 
the  world,  and  all  nature  wakens  and 
brightens. 

The  Kickleburys  on  the  Rhine. 

It  is  night  now;  and  here  is  home. 
Gathered  under  the  quiet  roof,  elders 
and  children  lie  alike  at  rest.  In  the 
midst  of  a  great  peace  and  calm  the 
stars  look  out  from  the  heavens.  The 
silence  is  peopled  with  the  past;  sorrow- 
ful remorses  for  sins  and  shortcomings 
— memories  of  passionate  joys  and  griefs 
rise  out  of  their  graves,  both  now  alike 
calm  and  sad.  Eyes,  as  I  shut  mine, 
look  at  me,  that  have  long  ceased  to 
shine.  The  town  and  the  fair  land- 
scape sleep  under  the  starlight,  wreathed 
in  the  autumn  mists.  Twinkling  among 
the  houses  a  light  keeps  watch  here  and 
there,  in  what  may  be  a  sick-chamber 
or  two.  The  clock  tolls  sweetly  in  the 
silent  air.  Here  is  night  and  rest.  An 
[90I 


DAY     AND     NIGHT 

awful  sense  of  thanks  makes  the  heart 
swell,  and  the  head  bow,  as  I  pass  to  my 
room  through  the  sleeping  house,  and  feel 
as  though  a  hushed  blessing  were  upon  it. 
Roundabout  Papers — De  Juventute. 
® 
Which  of  us  has  not  his  anxiety  in- 
stantly present  when  his  eyes  are  open- 
ed,  to   it   and   to   the   world,    after   his 
night's  sleep  ?     Kind  strengthener  that 
enables  us  to  face  the  day's  task  with 
renewed  heart!     Beautiful  ordinance  of 
Providence     that     creates     rest     as     it 
awards  labor! 

Pendennis,  chap.  Ivii. 

O  night,  what  tears  you  hide — what 
prayers  you  hear!  And  so  the  nights 
pass  and  the  days  succeed,  until  one 
comes  when  the  tears  and  parting  shall 
be  no  more. 

Roundabout  Papers — On  Letts' s  Diary. 

Oh!  the  whole  world  throbs  with  vain 
heart-pangs,  and  tosses  and  heaves  with 
[91] 


THACKERAY 

longing  unfulfilled  desires!  All  night, 
and  all  over  the  world,  bitter  tears  are 
dropping  as  regular  as  the  dew,  and  cruel 
memories  are  haunting  the  pillows. 

Lovel  the  Widower,  chap.  iv. 

I  don't  like  to  think  of  you  half  so 
sad  as  your  verses.  I  like  some  of  them 
very  much  indeed,  especially  the  little 
tender  bits.  All  the  allusions  to  children 
are  full  of  a  sweet  natural  compassionate- 
ness;  and  you  sit  in  your  poems  like  a 
gray  nun  with  three  or  four  little 
prattlers  nestling  around  your  knees. 
Letter  to  Adelaide  Proctor. 

To  save  be  your  endeavor,  too,  against 
the  night's  coming  when  no  man  may 
work;  when  the  arm  is  weary  with  the 
long  day's  labor;  when  the  brain  perhaps 
grows  dark;  when  the  old,  who  can 
labor  no  more,  want  warmth  and  rest, 
and  the  young  ones  call  for  supper. 

Roundabout  Papers — A  Joke  from  the 
Late  Thomas  Hood. 
[92] 


BOOKS     AND     THEIR     MAKERS 

To  do  your  work  honestly,  to  amuse 
and  instruct  your  reader  of  to-day,  to 
die  when  your  time  comes,  and  go  home 
with  as  clean  a  heart  as  may  be :  may 
these  be  all  yours  and  ours  by  God's 
will. 

Critical  Reviews — Laman  Blanchard. 


Some  poet  has  observed  that  if  any 
man  would  write  down  what  has  really 
happened  to  him  in  this  mortal  life 
he  would  be  sure  to  make  a  good  book, 
though  he  never  met  with  a  single  ad- 
venture from  his  birth  to  his  burial. 
The  Fatal  Boots. 

But  the  good  Irving,  the  peaceful, 
the  friendly,  had  no  place  for  bitterness 
in  his  heart,  and  no  theme  but  kindness. 
Received  in  England  with  extraor- 
dinary tenderness  and  friendship,  he 
was  a  messenger  of  good  will  and  peace 
between  his  country  and  ours. 

Roundabout  Papers — Nil  Nisi  Bonum. 

1  [  93  ] 


THACKERAY 

Alfred  Tennyson,  if  he  can't  make  you 
like  him,  will  make  you  admire  him — 
he  seems  to  me  to  have  the  cachet  of  a 
great  man;  his  conversation  is  often  de- 
lightful, I  think,  full  of  breadth,  man- 
liness, and  humor. 

Letter  to  Mrs.  Proctor. 

® 
One  reads  in  the  magic  story-books 
of  a  charm  or  a  flower  which  the  wizard 
gives,  and  which  enables  the  bearer 
to  see  the  fairies.  O  enchanting  boon  of 
Nature,  which  reveals  to  the  possessor 
the  hidden  spirits  of  beauty  round 
about  him!  spirits  which  the  strongest 
and  most  gifted  masters  compel  into 
painting  or  song. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  xi. 

An  immense  genius;  an  awful  down- 
fall and  ruin.  So  great  a  man  he  seems 
to  me,  that  thinking  of  him  is  like 
thinking  of  an  empire  falling. 

English  Humorists — Swift. 
[94] 


BOOKS     AND     THEIR     MAKERS 

Those  who  knew  Lord  Macaulay, 
knew  how  admirably  tender  and  gener- 
ous and  affectionate  he  was.  Why, 
a  man's  books  may  not  always  speak 
the  truth,  but  they  speak  his  mind  in 
spite  of  himself;  and  it  seems  to  me 
this  man's  heart  is  beating  through 
every  page  he  penned;  how  he  cheers 
heroic  resistance;  how  he  backs  and 
applauds  freedom  struggling  for  its  own ; 
how  he  hates  scoundrels,  ever  so  vic- 
torious and  successful ;  how  he  recognizes 
genius,  though  selfish  villains  possess  it. 

Roundabout  Papers — Nil  Nisi  Bonum. 

® 
Since  the  author  of  Tom  Jones  was 
buried,  no  writer  of  fiction  among  us 
has  been  permitted  to  depict  to  his 
utmost  power  a  man.  Society  will  not 
tolerate  the  Natural  in  our  Art. 

Preface  to  Pendennis. 

® 
Such  a  brave  and  gentle  heart,  such 
an  intrepid  and  courageous  spirit,  I  love 
[95] 


THACKERAY 

to  recognize  in  the  manly,  the  Enghsh 
Harry  Fielding. 

English   Humorists  —  Hogarth,   Smol- 
lett, and  Fielding. 

Ah,  ye  knights  of  the  pen!  may  honor 
be  your  shield,  and  truth  tip  your 
lances!  Be  gentle  to  all  gentle  people. 
Be  modest  to  women.  Be  tender  to 
children.  And  as  for  the  Ogre  Hum- 
bug, out,  sword,  and  have  at  him! 

Roundabout  Papers — Ogres. 

An  English  worthy,  doing  his  duty 
for  fifty  noble  years  of  labor,  day  by 
day  storing  up  learning,  day  by  day 
working  for  scant  wages,  most  charitable 
out  of  his  small  means,  bravely  faithful 
to  the  calling  which  he  had  chosen, 
refusing  to  turn  from  his  path  for 
popular  praise  or  princes'  favor — I  mean 
Robert  Southey. — The  Four  Georges. 

Does  any  man  who  has  written  a  book 
worth     reading — any     poet,     historian, 
[96] 


BOOKS     AND     THEIR     MAKERS 

novelist,  man  of  science — lose  reputa- 
tion by  his  character  for  genius  or  for 
learning  ?  Does  he  not,  on  the  con- 
trary, get  friends,  sympathy,  applause 
— money,  perhaps!  All  good  and  pleas- 
ant things  in  themselves,  and  not  un- 
generously awarded  as  they  are  honestly 
won. 

The  Dignity  of  Literature 

Montaigne  and  Howell's  letters  are 
my  bedside  books.  If  I  wake  at  night 
I  have  one  or  another. to  prattle  me  to 
sleep  again.  They  talk  about  them- 
selves forever  and  don't  weary  me.  I 
like  to  hear  them  tell  their  old  stories 
over  and  over  again. 

Romtdabout  Papers  —  On  Two  Chil- 
dren in  Black. 

As  I  was  talking  with  Brookfield  last 
night  about  our  dear,  kind,  gentle  boy, 
Harry  Hallam,  who  had  the  sweetest 
qualities  and  the  most  loving  heart,  and 
who  when  I  was  ill  last  year  showed  me 
[97] 


THACKERAY 

the  most  kind  and  delicate  proofs  of 
affection  and  sympathy.  .  .  .  He  came  a 
hundred  miles  last  year  to  offer  me 
money  in  case  I  should  be  in  want;  he 
came  down  to  see  me  at  Brighton  and 
gave  me  his  arm  for  my  first  walk — and 
lo! — :he's  gone.  This  seems  very  in- 
coherent— I  don't  know  why  the  words 
came  to  me,  and  seem  like  an  insult  on 
poor  Harry's  grave — and  I  don't  know 
why  I  should  begin  talking  to  you  in  this 
way  answering  a  note  to  dinner,  but  we 
dine  and  we  die,  don't  we  ?  and  we  get 
suddenly  stopped  on  the  highroad  by  a 
funeral  crossing  it. 

Letters. 
® 

Love  and  pleasure  find  singers  in  all 
days.  Roses  are  always  blowing  and 
fading. 

English  Humorists  —  Prior.  Gay,  and 
Pope. 

The  Congreve  muse  is  dead  and  her 
song  choked  in  time's  ashes.     We  gaze 
[98] 


BOOKS    AND     THEIR     MAKERS 

at  the  skeleton  and  wonder  at  the  life 
which  once  revelled  in  its  mad  veins. 

English    Humorists  —  Congreve    and 
Addison. 

® 

With  a  five  and  twenty  years'  ex- 
perience since  those  happy  days  of 
which  I  write,  and  an  acquaintance  with 
an  immense  variety  of  human  kind,  I 
think  I  have  never  seen  a  society  more 
simple,  charitable,  courteous,  gentleman- 
like than  that  of  the  dear  little  Saxon 
City  where  the  good  Schiller  and  the 
great  Goethe  lived  and  lie  buried. 

Critical   Reviews — Goethe  in  His  Old 
Age. 

Through  life  he  always  seems  alone 
somehow.  Goethe  was  so.  The  giants 
must  live  apart. 

English  Humorists — Swift. 

® 

That    astonishing    poem,    which    you 

all  of  you  know,  of  the  "  Bridge  of  Sighs," 

who   can    read    it    without   tenderness, 

[99] 


THACKERAY 

without  reverence  to  Heaven,  charity 
to  man,  and  thanks  to  the  beneficent 
genius  which  sang  for  us  nobly  ? 

Charity  and  Humor. 

@ 

About  all  these  heroes  of  Scott,  what 
a  manly  bloom  there  is,  and  honorable 
modesty!  They  are  not  at  all  heroic. 
They  seem  to  blush  somehow  in  their 
position  of  hero,  and  as  it  were  to  say 
"since  it  must  be  done,  here  goes!" 
They  are  handsome,  modest,  upright, 
simple,  courageous,  not  too  clever.  If 
I  were  a  mother  (which  is  absurd),  I 
should  like  to  be  mother-in-law  to  several 
young  men  of  the  Walter-Scott-hero 
sort. 

Rouvidabout  Papers  —  On  a  Peal  of 
Bells. 

I  have  to  own  that  I  think  the  heroes 

of  another  writer — viz.,  Leather  Stocking, 

Uncas,    Great   Heart,   Tom   Coffin — are 

quite   the  equals  of  Scott's  men;  per- 

[  loo] 


BOOKS    AND     THEIR     MAKERS 

haps   Leather   Stocking   is  better   than 
any  one  in  "Scott's  lot." 

Roundabout   Papers  —  On   a   Peal   of 
Bells. 

La  Longue  Carobine  is  one  of  the 
great  prize-men  of  fiction.  He  ranks 
with  your  Uncle  Tobey,  Sir  Roger  de 
Coverley,  Falstaff — heroic  figures  all — 
American  or  British,  and  the  artist 
has  deserved  well  of  his  country  who 
devised  them. 

Roundabout  Papers — On  a  Peal  of  Bells. 

Oh,  for  a  half-holiday  and  a  quiet 
corner  and  one  of  those  books  again! 
Those  books  and  perhaps  those  eyes 
with  which  to  read  them. 

Roundabout  Papers — De  Juventute. 

If  the  gods  would  give  me  the  desire 
of  my  heart,  I  should  be  able  to  write  a 
story  which  boys  would  relish  for  the 
next  few  dozen  of  centuries. 

Roundabout  Papers — De  Juventute. 

[lOl] 


THACKERAY 

Have  you  got  anything  so  good  and 
kindly  as  dear  Miss  Edgeworth's  Frank? 
I  think  there  were  one  or  two  passages 
which  would  try  my  eyes  now  were  I  to 
meet  the  little  book. 

Roundabout  Papers — De  Juventute. 

The  boy  critic  loves  the  story;  grown 
up,  he  loves  the  author  who  wrote  it. 
Roundabout  Papers — De  Juventute. 
® 
And  I  should  like  my  daughters  to 
remember  that  you  are   the  best   and 
oldest  friend  their  father  ever  had. 

Letter  to  Edward  Fitzgerald. 
® 
Dogs  and  horses  are  very  good  books, 
too,  in  their  way,  and  we  may  read  a 
deal  of  truth  out  of  'em. 

The  Virginians,  chap.  xxiv. 

We  are  living  in  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury;  and    poor    Dick    Steele   stumbled 
and  got  up  again,  and  got  into  jail  and 
out   again;    and   sinned    and    repented, 
[  102] 


BOOKS    AND     THEIR     MAKERS 

and  loved  and  suffered,  and  lived  and 
died,  scores  of  years  ago.  Peace  be 
with  him!  Let  us  think  gently  of  one 
who  was  so  gentle:  let  us  speak  kindly 
of  one  whose  own  heart  exuberated 
with  human  kindness. 

English  Humorists — Steele. 

® 
When  a  gentleman  is  cudgelling  his 
brain  to  find  any  rhyme  for  "sorrow" 
besides,  "borrow"  and  "to-morrow," 
his  woes  are  nearer  at  an  end  than  he 
thinks  for. 

Pendennis,  chap.  xi. 

In  the  portraits  of  the  literary  worth- 
ies of  the  early  part  of  the  last  century. 
Gay's  face  is  the  pleasantest  perhaps 
of  all.  He  was  so  kind,  so  gentle,  so 
jocular,  so  delightfully  brisk  at  times, 
so  dismally  woebegone  at  others,  such 
a  natural  good  creature,  that  the  Giants 
loved  him. 

English   Humorists — Prior,   Gay,   and 
Pope. 

[103J 


THACKERAY 

It  is  recorded  that  the  beaux  of  the 
day  thought  it  a  great  honor  to  be 
allowed  to  take  a  pinch  out  of  Dryden's 
snuff-box.  .  .  .  The  male  society  passed 
over  their  punch -bowls  and  tobacco- 
pipes  about  as  much  time  as  ladies  of 
that  age  spent  over  spadille  and  manille. 

English  Humorists — Prior,  Gay,  and 
Pope. 

Who  has  not  felt  that  little  shock 
which  arises  when  a  person,  a  place, 
some  words  in  a  book  (there  is  always 
a  collocation),  present  themselves  to 
you,  and  you  know  that  you  have  before 
met  the  same  person,  words,  scene,  and 
so  forth. 

Roundabout  Papers — De  Finibus. 

To  have  your  name  mentioned  by 
Gibbon  is  like  having  it  written  on  the 
dome  of  St.  Peter's. 

English  Humorists — Hogarth,  Smollett, 
and  Fielding. 

[  104] 


BOOKS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

The  literary  profession  is  not  held  in 
disrepute;  nobody  wants  to  disparage 
it,  no  man  loses  his  social  rank,  whatever 
it  may  be,  by  practising  it. 

The  Dignity  of  Literature. 

He  came,  the  gentle  satirist  who  hit 
no  unfair  blow;  the  kind  judge  who 
castigated  only  in  smiling.  If  Swift's 
life  was  the  most  wretched,  I  think 
Addison's  was  one  of  the  most  enviable. 
A  life  prosperous  and  beautiful — a  calm 
death — an  immense  fame  and  afifection 
afterward  for  his  happy  and  spotless 
name. 

English  Humorists  —  Congreve  and 
Addison. 

If  the  secret  history  of  books  could 
be  written,  and  the  author's  private 
thoughts  and  meanings  noted  down 
alongside  of  his  story,  how  many  in- 
sipid volumes  would  become  interest- 
ing, and  dull  tales  excite  the  reader! 
Pendennis,  chap.  xli. 
[105] 


THACKERAY 

I  should  like  to  have  been  Shake- 
speare's shoe-black — just  to  have  lived 
in  his  house,  just  to  have  worshipped 
him — to  have  run  on  his  errands,  and 
seen  that  sweet,  serene  face. 

English  Humorists. 

Think  of  him  reckless,  thriftless,  vain, 
if  you  like — but  merciful,  gentle,  gener- 
ous, full  of  love  and  pity — his  benevolent 
spirit  seems  still  to  smile  upon  us;  to 
do  gentle  kindnesses:  to  succor  with 
sweet  charity:  to  soothe,  caress,  and 
forgive:  to  plead  with  the  fortunate  for 
the  unhappy  and  the  poor. 

English  Humorists — Goldsmith . 

® 

0  brother  wearers  of  the  motley! 
Are  there  not  moments  when  one 
grows  sick  of  grinning  and  tumbling, 
and  the  jingling  of  cap  and  bells? 

Vanity  Fair,  chap.  xix. 

1  was  thinking  of  our  acquaintance 
the   other   day,    and   how   it   has   been 

[io6] 


BOOKS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

marked    on    your    part    by    constant 
kindnesses. 

Letter  to  Richard  Moncton  Milnes. 


Have  you  read  David  Copperfield,  by 
the  way  ?  How  beautiful  it  is — how 
charmingly  fresh  and  simple!  In  those 
admirable  touches  of  tender  humor — 
and  I  should  call  humor,  Bob,  a  mixture 
of  love  and  wit — who  can  equal  this 
great  genius? 

Mr.  Brown's  Letters  to  His  Nephew. 

I  may  quarrel  with  Mr.  Dickens'  art; 
a  thousand  and  a  thousand  times  I 
delight  and  wonder  at  his  genius. 

Charity  and  Humor. 

You  who  can  smash  the  idols,  do  so 
with  a  good  courage;  but  do  not  be  too 
fierce  with  the  idolators — they  worship 
the  best  thing  they  know. 

Pendennis,  chap.  xlv. 
[  107  ] 


THACKERAY 

O     Dumas!     O     thou     brave,     kind, 
gallant,  old  Alexandre!     I  hereby  offer 
thee  homage,  and  give  thee  thanks  for 
many  pleasant  hours. 
Roundabout  Papers — On  a  Lazy  Idle  Boy. 

A  man  in  life,  a  humorist,  in  writing 
about  life,  sways  over  to  one  principle 
or  the  other,  and  laughs  with  the 
reverence  for  right  and  the  love  of 
truth  in  his  heart,  or  laughs  at  these 
from  the  other  side. 

English    Humorists  —  Congreve    and 

Addison.  ^ 

W 

What  an  awful  responsibility  hanging 
on  an  author!  What  man  holding  such 
a  place,  and  knowing  that  his  words  go 
forth  to  vast  congregations  of  mankind 
— to  grown  folks— to  their  children,  and 
perhaps  to  their  children's  children — 
but  must  think  of  his  calling  with  a 
solemn  and  humble  heart!  May  truth 
and  love  guide  such  a  man  always! 

Mr.  Brown's  Letters  to  His  Nephew. 
[io8] 


BOOKS    AND     THEIR     MAKERS 

Mind  there  is  always  a  certain  cachet 
about  great  men — they  may  be  as  mean 
on  many  points  as  you  and  I,  but  they 
carry  their  great  air — they  speak  of 
common  life  more  largely  and  generous- 
ly than  common  men  do. 

English  Humorists — Prior,  Gay,  a>id 
Pope. 


We  are  now  come  to  the  greatest 
name  on  our  list,  the  highest  among 
the  English  wits  and  humorists  with 
whom  we  have  to  rank  him.  In  think- 
ing of  the  splendor  of  Pope's  young 
victories,  of  his  merit,  unequalled  as  his 
renown,  I  hail  and  salute  the  achieving 
genius,  and  do  homage  to  the  pen  of  a 
hero. 

He  polished,  he  refined,  he  thought; 
he  took  thought  from  other  works  to 
adorn  and  complete  his  own;  borrowing 
an  idea  or  a  cadence  from  another  poet 
as  he  would  a  figure  or  a  simile  from  a 
flower,  or  a  river,  stream,  or  any  object 
«  [109] 


THACKERAY 

which  struck  him  in  his  walk,  or  con- 
templation of  nature. 

English  Humorists — Prior,   Gay,   and 
Pope. 

It  costs  a  gentleman  no  sacrifice  to 
be  benevolent  on  paper;  and  the  luxury 
of  indulging  in  the  most  beautiful  and 
brilliant  sentiments  never  makes  any 
man  a  penny  the  poorer. 

Charity  afid  Humor. 

Long,   long  through  the  hour  and  the 

night  and  the  chimes, 
Here   we    talk   of   old   books,    and   old 

friends,  and  old  times; 
As  we  sit  in  a  fog  made  of  rich  Latakie, 
This  chamber  is  pleasant  to  you,  friend, 

and  me. 
Ballads — The  Cane-Bottomed  Chair. 

The  man  is  a  great  jester,  not  a  great 
humorist.     He   goes  to  work  systemat- 
ically   and    of    cold    blood;    paints    his 
[no] 


BOOKS    AND     THEIR     MAKERS 

face,  puts  on  his  ruff  and  motley  clothes, 
and  lays  down  his  carpet  and  tumbles 
on  it. 

English  Humorists — Sterne. 

Ah,  my  worthy  friends,  you  little 
know  what  soft-hearted  people  these 
cynics  are!  If  you  could  have  come 
on  Diogenes  by  surprise,  I  daresay  you 
might  have  found  him  reading  senti- 
mental novels,  and  whimpering  in  his 
bath-tub. 
'  The  Adventures  of  Philip,  chap.  xxix. 

A  perilous  trade,  indeed,  is  that  of  a 
man  who  has  to  bring  his  teg-rs  and 
laughter,  his  recollections,  his  personal 
griefs  and  joys,  his  private  thoughts  and 
feelings  to  market,  to  write  them  on 
paper,  and  sell  them  for  money. 

English  Humorists  —  Sterne  and 
Goldsmith. 

Novels  are  sweets.     All  people  with 
healthy  literary  appetites  love  them — 
[III] 


THACKERAY 

almost   all  women — a   vast   number  of 
clever  hard-headed  men. 

Roundabout  Papers — On  a  Lazy  Idle 
Boy. 

Prior's  seems  to  me  among  the  easiest, 
the  richest,  the  most  charmingly  humor- 
ous of  English  lyrical  poems.  Horace 
is  always  in  his  mind,  and  his  song,  and 
his  philosophy,  his  good  sense,  his 
happy  turns  and  melody,  his  loves  and 
his  epicureanism  bear  a  great  resemblance 
to  that  most  delightful  and  accomplished 
master. 

English  Humorists — Prior,  Gay,  and 
Pope. 

Let  no  young  people  be  misled  and 
rush  fatally  into  romance  writing:  for 
one  book  that  succeeds  let  them  re- 
member the  many  that  fail,  I  do  not 
say  deservedly  or  otherwise,  and  whole- 
somely abstain. 

Pendennis,  chap,  xli. 
[112] 


THE     DRAMA 

He  was  oppressed  by  illness,  age, 
narrow  fortune;  but  his  spirit  was  still 
resolute  and  his  courage  steady. 

English  Humorists — Smollett. 

Which  of  us  has  not  idle  words  to 
recall,  flippant  jokes  to  regret? 

Roundabout  Papers — On  Screens  in 
Dining-room. 

How  much  of  the  paint  and  emphasis 
is  necessary  for  the  fair  business  of  the 
stage,  and  how  much  of  the  rant  and 
rouge  is  put  on  for  the  vanity  of  the 
actor  ? 

English  Humorists  —  Sterne  and 
Goldsmith. 

Are  not  comedies  and  tragedies  daily 
performed  before  us  of  which  we  under- 
stand neither  the  fun  nor  the  pathos? 
The  Virginians,  chap.  Ixix. 

Why,   what   tragedies,   comedies,   in- 
terludes, intrigues,  farces,  are  going  on 
[113] 


THACKERAY 

under  our  noses,  in  friends'  drawing- 
rooms,  where  we  visit  every  day,  and 
we  remain  utterly  ignorant,  self-satis- 
fied, and  blind. 

The  Virginians,  chap,  xxiii. 

You  see  tragedies  in  some  people's 
faces. 

The  Newcomes,  chap,  xxiii. 

I  can  have  first-rate  tragedy  in  Lon- 
don :  in  the  country  give  me  good  old 
country  fare  —  the  good  old  comedies 
and  farces  —  the  dear  good  old  melo- 
dramas. 

Contributions  to  Punch  —  A  Brighton 
Night  Entertainment. 

® 
The  play  is  done;  the  curtain  drops. 

Slow  falling  to  the  prompter's  bell; 
A  moment  yet  the  actor  stops, 

And  looks  around,  to  say  farewell. 
It  is  an  irksome  word  and  task; 

And  when  he's  laughed  and  said  his 
say, 

[  114] 


LETTERS 

He  shows,  as  he  removes  the  mask, 
A  face  that's  anything  but  gay. 
Ballads — Tlie  Ejid  of  The  Play. 

Of  what  use  keeping  letters?     I  say 
burn,  burn,  burn. 

Philip,  chap,  xviii. 

You  open  an  old  letter-box  and  look 
at  your  own  childish  scrawls,  or  your 
mother's  letters  to  you  when  you  were 
at  school;  and  excavate  your  heart. 
The  Newcomes,  chap,  xxviii. 

Esmond  came  to  this  spot  in  one 
sunny  evening  of  spring,  and  saw, 
amid  a  thousand  black  crosses,  casting 
their  shadows  across  the  grassy  mounds, 
that  particular  one  which  marked  his 
mother's  resting-place.  Many  more  of 
these  poor  creatures  that  lay  there  had 
adopted  that  same  name,  with  which 
sorrow  had  rebaptized  her,  and  which 
fondly  seemed  to  hint  their  individual 
story  of  love  and  grief.  He  fancied 
[115] 


THACKERAY 

her  in  tears  and  darkness,  kneeling  at 
the  foot  of  her  cross,  under  which  her 
cares  were  buried.  Surely  he  knelt 
down,  and  said  his  own  prayer  there, 
not  in  sorrow  so  much  as  in  awe  (for 
even  his  memory  had  no  recollection 
of  her),  and  in  pity  for  the  pangs  which 
the  gentle  soul  in  life  had  been  made  to 
suffer.  To  this  cross  she  brought  them ; 
for  this  heavenly  bridegroom  she  ex- 
changed the  husband  who  had  left  her. 
A  thousand  such  hillocks  lay  round 
about,  the  gentle  daisies  springing  out 
of  the  grass  over  them,  and  each  bearing 
its  cross  and  requiescat.  A  nun,  veiled 
in  black,  was  kneeling  hard  by,  at  a 
sleepmg  sister's  bedside  (so  fresh  made 
that  the  spring  had  scarce  had  time  to 
spin  a  coverlid  for  it) ;  beyond  the 
cemetery  walls  you  had  glimpses  of  life 
and  the  world,  and  the  spires  and 
gables  of  the  city.  A  bird  came  down 
from  a  roof  opposite,  and  lit  first  on  a 
cross  and  then  on  the  grass  below  it, 
whence  it  flew  away  presently  with  a 
[ii6] 


LIFE     AND     THE     HEREAFTER 

leaf  in  its  mouth.  There  came  a  sound 
as  of  chanting,  from  the  chapel  of  the 
sisters  hard  by;  others  had  long  since 
filled  the  place  which  poor  Mary  Magda- 
lene once  had  there,  were  kneeling  at 
the  same  stall,  and  hearing  the  same 
hymns  and  prayers  in  which  her  stricken 
heart  had  found  consolation.  Might  she 
sleep  in  peace — might  she  sleep  in 
peace;  and  we,  too,  when  our  struggles 
and  pains  are  over!  But  the  earth 
is  the  Lord's  as  the  heaven  is;  we  are 
alike  hi^x  creatures  here  and  yonder. 
I  took  a  little  flower  off  the  hillock  and 
kissed  it,  and  went  my  way,  like  the 
bird  that  had  just  lighted  on  the  cross 
by  me,  back  into  the  world  again. 
Silent  receptacle  of  death;  tranquil 
depth  of  calm,  out  of  reach  of  tempest 
and  trouble !  I  felt  as  one  who  had  been 
walking  below  the  sea  and  treading 
amid  the  bones  of  shipwrecks. 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  II,  chap.  xiii. 

Who  says  the  world  is  all  cold  ?  There 
[117] 


THACKERAY 

is  the  sun  and  the  shadows.     And  the 
Heaven  which  ordains  poverty  and  sick- 
ness, sends  pity,  and  love,  and  succor. 
The  Adventures  of  Philip,  chap.  xH. 

And  what  has  this  to  do  with  half- 
crowns,  good  or  bad  ?  Ah  friend !  may 
our  coin,  battered  and  chipped,  and  de- 
faced though  it  be,  be  proved  to  be 
Sterling  Silver  on  the  day  of  the  Great 
Assay ! 

Roundabout  Papers — On  a  Medal  of 
George  the  Fourth. 

They  say  our  words,  once  out  of  our 
lips,  go  travelling  in  omne  cevum,  re- 
verberating for  ever  and  ever.  If  our 
words,  why  not  our  thoughts  ?  If  the 
Has  Been,  why  not  the  Might  Have 
Been? 

Roundabout  Papers  —  The  Last 
Sketch.  as 

Parting  is  death — at  least,  as  far  as 
life  is  concerned.     A  passion  comes  to 
[ii8] 


LIFE     AND    THE     HEREAFTER 

an  end;  it  is  carried  off  in  a  coffin,  or 
weeping,  in  a  postchaise;  it  drops  out  of 
life  one  way  or  other;  and  the  earth- 
clods  close  over  it  and  we  see  it  no  more. 
But  it  has  been  part  of  our  souls,  and 
it  is  eternal. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  xv. 

The  leopard  follows  her  nature  as  the 
lamb  does,  and  acts  under  leopard  law; 
she  can  neither  help  her  beauty,  nor  her 
courage,  nor  her  cruelty;  nor  a  single 
spot  of  her  shining  coat;  nor  the  con- 
quering spirit  which  impels  her;  nor 
the  shot  which  brings  her  down. 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  III.,  chap.  vii. 

If  love  lives  through  all  life,  and  sur- 
vives through  all  sorrow;  and  remains 
steadfast  with  us  through  all  changes; 
and  in  all  darkness  of  spirit  burns 
brightly;  and  if  we  die,  deplores  us  for- 
ever, and  loves  still  equally,  and  exists 
with  the  very  last  gasp  and  throb  of  the 
faithful  bosom — whence  it  passes  with 
[119] 


THACKERAY 

the    pure  soul,  beyond  death,  surely  it 
shall  be  immortal! 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  xlvi. 

® 

Those  we  love  can  but  walk  down  to 
the  pier  with  us — the  voyage  we  must 
make  alone.  Except  for  the  young  or 
very  happy,  I  can't  say  I  am  sorry  for 
any  one  who  dies. 

Letter  to  Mrs.  Proctor. 

@ 

The  great  moments  in  life  are  but 
moments  like  the  others.  Your  doom 
is  spoken  in  a  word  or  two.  A  single 
look  from  the  eyes;  a  mere  pressure  of 
the  hand  may  decide  it,  or  of  the  lips, 
though  they  cannot  speak. 

Pendennis,  chap.  Ixxiv. 

As  I  consider  the  passionate  griefs  of 

childhood,  the  weariness  and  sameness 

of  shaving,  the  agony  of  corns,  and  the 

thousand   other   ills   to   which    flesh   is 

[  120] 


LIFE     AND     THE     HEREAFTER 

heir,  I  cheerfully  say  for  one,  I  am  not 
anxious  to  wear  it  forever. 

The  Adventures  of  Philip,  chap.  Ixi. 

I  believe  it  is  by  persons  believing 
themselves  in  the  right,  that  nine-tenths 
of  the  tyranny  of  this  world  has  been 
perpetrated. 

The  Four  Georges. 

Make  a  faith  or  a  dogma  absolute, 
and  persecution  becomes  a  logical  con- 
sequence. 

Peiidennis,  chap.  Ixv. 

® 

Helen  whispered,  "Come  away,  Arthur 
— not  here — I  want  to  ask  my  child  to 
forgive  me  —  and  —  and  my  God  to 
forgive  me;  and  to  bless  you,  and  love 
you,  my  son." 

He  led  her,  tottering,  into  her  room, 
and  closed  the  door,  as  the  three 
touched  spectators  of  the  reconciliation 
looked  on  in  pleased  silence.     Ever  after, 

[I2I] 


THACKERAY 

ever  after,  the  tender  accents  of  that 
voice  faltering  sweetly  at  his  ear — the 
look  of  the  sacred  eyes  beaming  with  an 
affection  unutterable — the  quiver  of 
the  fond  lips  smiling  mournfully — were 
remembered  by  the  young  man.  And 
at  his  best  moments,  and  at  his  hours 
of  trial  and  grief,  and  at  his  times 
of  success  or  well-doing,  the  mother's 
face  looked  down  upon  him  with  its  gaze 
of  pity  and  purity,  as  he  saw  it  in  that 
night  when  she  yet  lingered  with  him; 
and  when  she  seemed,  ere  she  quite  left 
him,  an  angel,  transfigured  and  glorified 
with  love,  for  which  love,  as  for  the 
greatest  of  the  bounties  and  wonders  of 
God's  provision  for  us,  let  us  kneel  and 
thank  Our  Father. 

The  moon  had  risen  by  this  time; 
Arthur  recollected  well  afterward  how 
it  lighted  up  his  mother's  sweet,  pale 
face.  Their  talk,  or  his  rather,  for  she 
scarcely  could  speak,  was  more  tender 
and  confidential  than  it  had  been  for 
years  before.     As  they  were  talking  the 

[  122  ] 


LIFE     AND     THE     HEREAFTER 

clock  struck  nine,  and  Helen  reminded 
him  how,  when  he  was  a  little  boy,  she 
used  to  go  up  to  his  bedroom,  at  that 
hour,  and  hear  him  say,  Our  Father. 
And  once  more,  oh,  once  more,  the 
young  man  fell  down  at  his  mother's 
sacred  knees  and  sobbed  out  the  prayer 
which  the  Divine  Tenderness  uttered 
for  us,  and  which  has  been  echoed  for 
twenty  ages  since  by  millions  of  sinful 
and  humbled  men.  And  as  he  spoke 
the  last  words  of  the  supplication,  the 
mother's  head  fell  down  on  her  boy's, 
and  her  arms  closed  round  him,  and  to- 
gether they  repeated  the  words  "for 
ever  and  ever"  and  "amen." 

A  little  time  after,  it  might  have  been 
a  quarter  of  an  hour,  Laura  heard 
Arthur's  voice  calling  from  within, 
"Laura!  Laura!"  She  rushed  into  the 
room  instantly,  and  found  the  young 
man  on  his  knees,  and  holding  his 
mother's  hand.  .  .  .  The  tender  heart 
beat  no  more;  it  was  to  have  no  more 
pangs,  no  more  griefs  and  trials.  Its 
[  ^2s] 


THACKERAY 

last   throb   was   love;   and    Helen's   last 
breath  was  benediction. 

Pendennis,  chap.  Ivii. 

Our  great  thoughts,  our  great  affec- 
tions, the  Truths  of  our  life,  never  leave 
us. 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  III,  chap.  vi. 

@ 
Is  memory  as  strong  as  expectancy? 
fruition,  as  hunger?  gratitude,  as  desire? 
Henry  Esmond,  Book  II,  chap.  vii. 

Every  one  of  us  in  every  fact,  book, 
circumstance  of  life,  sees  a  different 
meaning  and  moral,  and  so  it  must  be 
about  religion.  But  we  can  all  love  each 
other,  and  say  "Our  Father." 

Letter  to  His  Daughter  Anne. 

I    doubt    whether    the    wisest    of    us 

know  what  our  own  motives  are,  and 

whether  some  of  the  actions  of  which  we 

are  the  very  proudest  will  not  surprise 

[  124] 


LIFE    AND     THE     HEREAFTER 

us  when  we  trace  them,  as  we  shall  one 
day,  to  their  source. 

Pendennis,  chap.  xxx. 

Is  the  glory  of  Heaven  to  be  sung  only 
by  gentlemen  in  black  coats  ?  Must  the 
truth  be  only  expounded  in  gown  and 
surplice,  and  out  of  these  two  vestments 
can  nobody  preach  it? 

English  Humorists  —  Congreve  and 
Addison. 

The  wicked  are  wicked  no  doubt,  and 

they  go  astray  and  they  fall,  and  they 

come  by  their  deserts;  but  who  can  tell 

the  mischief  which  the  very  virtuous  do  ? 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  xx. 

If  identity  survives  the  grave,  as  our 
faith  tells  us,  is  it  not  a  consolation  to 
think  that  there  may  be  one  or  two  souls 
among  the  purified  and  just  whose  af- 
fection watches  us  invisible,  and  follows 
the  poor  sinner  on  earth  ? 
Journey  from  Cornhill  to  Cairo,  chap.  iv. 
»  [125] 


THACKERAY 

The  delusion  is  better  than  the  truth 
sometimes,  and  fine  dreams  than  dismal 
waking. 

Pendennis,  chap.  xix. 
® 
Oh!  Vaniias  Vanitatum!  which  of  us 
is  happy  in  this  world  ?     Which  of  us 
has  his  desire  ?  or  having  it,  is  satisfied  ? 
Vanity  Fair,  chap.  Ixvii. 

"There  must  be  classes — there  must 
be  rich  and  poor"  Dives  says,  smacking 
his  claret — (it  is  well  if  he  even  sends 
the  broken  meat  out  to  Lazarus  sitting 
under  the  window).  Very  true;  but 
think  how  mysterious  and  often  un- 
accountable it  is — that  lottery  of  life, 
which  gives  to  this  man  the  purple  and 
fine  linen,  and  sends  to  the  other  rags 
for  garments  and  dogs  for  comforters. 
Vanity  Fair,  chap.  Ivii. 

In  a  word,  we  carry  our  own  burden 
in  the  world;  push  and  struggle  along 
on  our  own  affairs;  are  pinched  by  our 
[126] 


LIFE     AND     THE     HEREAFTER 

own  shoes — though  Heaven  forbid  we 
should  not  stop  and  forget  ourselves 
sometimes  when  a  friend  cries  out  in  his 
distress,  or  we  can  help  a  poor  stricken 
wanderer  on  his  way. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  Ixxiv. 

If  our  bad  unspoken  thoughts  are 
registered  against  us,  and  are  written 
in  the  awful  account,  will  not  the  good 
thoughts  unspoken,  the  love  and  ten- 
derness, the  pity,  beauty,  charity,  which 
pass  through  the  breast,  and  cause  the 
heart  to  throb  with  silent  good,  find  a 
remembrance  too? 

Rowndabout  Papers — The  Last  Sketch. 

At  the  usual  evening  hour  the  chapel 
bell  began  to  toll,  and  Thomas  New- 
come's  hands  outside  the  bed  feebly 
beat  time.  And  just  as  the  last  bell 
struck,  a  peculiar  sweet  smile  shone 
over  his  face,  and  he  lifted  up  his  head 
a  little,  and  quickly  said  "Adsum!"  and 
fell  back.  It  was  the  word  we  used 
[  127] 


THACKERAY 

at  school,  when  names  were  called;  and 
lo!  he,  whose  heart  was  as  that  of  a  little 
child,   had  answered  to  his  name,   and 
stood  in  the  presence  of  the  Master. 
The  Newcomes,  chap.  Ixxx. 

Ah,  gracious  Heaven  gives  us  eyes  to 
see  our  own  wrong,  however  dim  age 
may  make  them;  and  knees  not  too  stiff 
to  kneel,  in  spite  of  years,  cramp,  and 
rheumatism ! 

The  Adventures  of  Philip,  chap,  xxxii. 
® 

O,  blessed  they  on  whose  pillow  no 
remorse  sits! 

The  Adventures  of  Philip,  chap.  vii. 

The  world  is  full  of  love  and  pity,  I 
say.     Had    there    been    less    suffering, 
there  would  have  been  less  kindness. 
The  Adventures  of  Philip,  chap.  xxv. 

@ 
At  certain  periods  of  life  we  live  years 

of  emotion  in  a  few  weeks,   and  look 
[128] 


LIFE    AND     THE     HEREAFTER 

back  on  those  times,  as  on  great  gaps 
between  the  old  Hfe  and  the  new. 
Henry  Esmond,  Book  II,  chao.  i. 
® 
It  is  only  in  later  days,  perhaps,  when 
the  treasures  of  love  are  spent  and  the 
kind  hand  cold  which  ministered  them, 
that  we  remember  how  tender  it  was; 
how  soft  to  soothe;  how  eager  to  shield; 
how  ready  to  support  and  caress. 

The  Neivcojnes,  chap.  xx. 

Friends  and  children  of  our  race,  who 
come  after  me,  in  which  way  will  you 
bear  your  trials?  I  know  one  that 
prays  God  will  give  you  love,  rather  than 
pride,  and  that  the  Eye  all-seeing  shall 
find  you  in  the  humble  place. 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  III,  chap.  vii. 

@ 
So,  one  day,  shall  the  names  of  all  of 
us  be  written  there;  to  be  deplored  by 
how  many? — to  be  remembered  how 
long  ?  to  occasion  what  tears,  praises, 
sympathy,  censure? — yet  for  a  day  or 
[  129] 


THACKERAY 

two,  while  the  busy  world  has  time  to 
recollect  us  who  have  passed  beyond  it. 
The  Newcomes,  chap.  Ixxx. 

So  each,  in  his  fashion,  and  after  his 
kind,  is  bowing  down  and  adoring  the 
Father  who  is  equally  above  all.  Care 
not,  you  brother  or  sister,  if  your  neigh- 
bor's voice  is  not  like  yours;  only  hope 
that  his  words  are  honest  as  far  as  may 
be,  and  his  heart  humble  and  thank- 
ful. 

Journey  from  Cornhill  to  Cairo. 

@ 
Out  of  our  stormy  life,  and  brought 
nearer    the    Divine    light    and    warmth, 
there  must  be  a  serene  climate;  can't 
you  fancy  sailing  into  the  calm  ? 

Letter  to  Mrs.  Brookfield. 

So  night  and  day  pass  away,  and  to- 
morrow comes,  and  our  place  knows  us 
not. 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  III,  chap.  vi. 
[130] 


LIFE    AND     THE     HEREAFTER 

Oh,  weary  is  life's  path  to  all! 

Hard   is   the   strife,   and   light   the   fall, 

But  wondrous  the  reward! 

Ballads — To  a  Very  Old  Woman. 

I  protest  the  great  ills  of  life  are  noth- 
ing— the  loss  of  your  fortune  is  a  mere 
flea-bite,  the  loss  of  your  wife — how 
many  men  have  supported  it,  and  mar- 
ried comfortably  afteiward?  It  is  not 
what  you  lose  but  what  you  have  daily 
to  bear  that  is  hard. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  xl. 

I  have  known  men  of  lax  faith  pure 
and  just  in  their  lives,  as  I  have  met 
very  loud-professing  Christians  loose  in 
their  morality,  and  hard  and  unjust  in 
their  dealings. 

Denis  Duval,  chap.  vi. 

The  bounties  of  the  Father  I  believe 
to  be  countless   and    inexhaustible  for 
most  of  us  here  in  life:  Love,  the  great- 
[131] 


THACKERAY 

est.     Art   (which  is  an  exquisite  sense 
of  nature),  the  next. 

Letter  to  Mrs.  Brookfield. 

Ask  of  your  own  hearts  and  memories, 
brother  and  sister,  if  we  do  not  live  in 
the  dead;  and  (to  speak  reverently) 
prove  God  by  love  ? 

Pendennis,  chap.  Ixi, 

Compared  to  the  possession  of  that 
priceless  treasure  and  happiness  un- 
speakable, a  perfect  faith,  what  has 
life  to  offer? 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  1. 

I  don't  pity  anybody  who  leaves  the 
world,  not  even  a  fair  young  girl  in  her 
prime;  I  pity  those  remaining. 

Letter  to  Mrs.  Brookfield. 

O  friend,  in  your  life  and  mine,  don't 

we    light    upon    such    sermons    daily — 

don't  we  see  at  home  as  well  as  among 

our  neighbors  that  battle  betwixt  Evil 

[  ^32] 


LIFE    AND     THE     HEREAFTER 

and  Good  ?  Here  on  one  side  is  Self 
and  Ambition  and  Advancement;  and 
Right  and  Love  on  the  other. 

The  Newcomes,  chap,  xxxviii. 

The  ears  may  no  longer  hear  which 
would  have  received  our  words  of  thanks 
so  delightedly.  Let  us  hope  those 
fruits  of  love,  though  tardy,  are  yet  not 
all  too  late;  and  though  we  bring  our 
tribute  of  reverence  and  gratitude,  it 
may  be  to  a  gravestone,  there  is  an 
acceptance  even  there  for  the  stricken 
heart's  oblation  of  fond  remorse,  con- 
trite memories,  and  pious  tears. 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  xx. 

Ah,  pangs  of  hearts  torn  asunder, 
passionate  regrets,  cruel,  cruel  partings! 
Shall  you  not  end  one  day,  ere  many 
years:  when  the  tears  shall  be  washed 
from  all  eyes  and  there  shall  be  neither 
pain  nor  sorrows  ? 

The  Newcomes,  chap.  xxvi. 
[U3] 


THACKERAY 

We  may  grow  old,  but  to  us  some 
stories  never  are  old.  On  a  sudden 
they  rise  up,  not  dead,  but  living — not 
forgotten,  but  freshly  remembered.  The 
eyes  gleam  on  us  as  they  used  to  do. 
The  dear  voice  thrills  in  our  hearts. 
The  rapture  of  the  meeting,  the  terrible, 
terrible  parting,  again  and  again  the 
tragedy  is  acted  over. 

Rouitdabout  Papers— On  Some  Carp 
at  San  Souci. 

Which  of  us  that  is  thirty  years  old 
has  not  had  his  Pompeii? 

The  Newcomes,  chap,  xxviii. 

Whose  life  is  not  a  disappointment? 
Who  carries  his  heart  entire  to  the 
grave  without  a  mutilation  ?  I  never 
knew  anybody  who  was  happy  quite, 
or  who  had  not  to  ransom  himself  out 
of  the  hands  of  Fate  with  the  fragment 
of  some  dearest  treasure  or  other. 

Pendennis,  chap.  Ixxx. 
[134] 


LIFE     AND     THE     HEREAFTER 

So  the  generations  of  men  pass  away 
and  are  called,  rank  after  rank,  by  the 
Divine  Goodness  out  of  the  reach  of 
time  and  age,  and  grief  and  struggle 
and  parting,  leaving  these  to  their  suc- 
cessors, who  go  through  their  appointed 
world- work,  and  are  resumed  presently 
by  the  Awful  Power  of  us  all,  Whose 
will  is  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven, 
and  Whose  kingdom  and  glory  are  for 
ever  and  ever. 

Letter  to  Miss  Charlotte  Ritchie. 

® 
We  forget  nothing.  The  memory 
sleeps,  but  wakens  again;  I  often  think 
how  it  shall  be  when,  after  the  last  sleep 
of  death,  the  reveille  shall  arouse  us  for- 
ever, and  the  past  in  one  flash  of  self- 
consciousness  rush  back,  like  the  soul 
revivified; 

Henry  Esmond,  Book  III,  chap.  vii. 

There  is  life  and  death  going  on  in 
everything;    truth    and    lies   always  at 
battle.     Pleasure     is     always     warring 
[135] 


THACKERAY 

against    self-constraint.     Doubt    is    al- 
ways crying  "  Psha!"  and  sneering. 
English    Humorists  —  Congreve    and 
Addison. 

Does  it  strengthen  a  man  in  his 
own  creed  to  hear  his  neighbor's  belief 
abused  ? 

Irish  Sketch  Book,  chap,  xxv. 

If  we  only  got  what  we  deserved — 
Heaven  save  us! — many  of  us  might 
whistle  for  a  dinner. 

Irish  Sketch  Book,  chap.  i. 

Dare,  and  the  world  always  yields; 
or  if  it  beat  you  sometimes,  dare  again, 
and  it  will  succumb. 

The     Memoirs     of     Barry     Lyndon, 
chap.  xiii. 

® 
It  is  a  thought,  to  me,  awful  and  beau- 
tiful, that  of  the  daily  prayer,  and  of  the 
myriads   of   fellow-men   uttering   it,    in 
[136] 


LIFE    AND     THE     HEREAFTER 

care,  and  in  sickness,  in  doubt  and  in 
poverty,  in  health  and  in  wealth. 

The  Adventures  of  Philip,  chap.  xxxv. 

Kind  readers  all,  may  your  sorrows, 
may  mine,  leave  us  with  hearts  not  em- 
bittered, and  humbly  acquiescent  to  the 
Great  Will! 

The  Adventures  of  Philip,  chap,  cxl. 

What    boots    whether    it    be    West- 
minster or  a  little  country  spire  which 
covers   your   ashes,    or   if,    a   few   days 
sooner  or  later,  the  world  forgets  you? 
Pendennis,  chap,  xviii. 

That  must  be  a  strange  feeling,  when 
a  day  of  our  life  comes,  and  we  say, 
to-morrow  success  or  failure  won't 
matter  much;  and  the  sun  will  rise,  and 
all  the  myriads  of  mankind  go  to  their 
work,  or  to  their  pleasure  as  usual,  but 
I  shall  be  out  of  the  turmoil. 

Vanity  Fair,  chap.  Ixi. 
[  137  ] 


THACKERAY 

Christmas  is  here: 
Winds  whistle  shrill, 
Icy  and  chill, 
Little  care  we; 
Little  we  fear, 
Weather  without. 
Sheltered  about. 
The  Mahogany  Tree. 

Evenings  we  knew, 
Happy  as  this; 
Faces  we  miss. 
Pleasant  to  see. 
Kind  hearts  and  true, 
Gentle  and  just. 
Peace  to  your  dust! 
We  sing  round  the  tree. 

Care,  like  a  dun. 
Lurks  at  the  gate: 
Let  the  day  wait; 
Happy  we'll  be! 
Drink  every  one; 
Pile  up  the  coals, 
Fill  the  red  bowls, 
Round  the  old  tree. 
[138] 


THE     CHRISTMAS     SEASON 

Sorrows,  begone! 
Life  and  its  ills, 
Duns  and  their  bills, 
Bid  me  to  flee. 
Come  with  the  dawn, 
Blue-devil  sprite. 
Leave  us  to-night 
Round  the  old  tree. 
Ballads— The  Mahogany  Tree. 

Who  was  born  on  Christmas  Day  ? 
Somebody  who  is  so  great,  that  all  the 
world  worships  Him;  and  so  good,  that 
all  the  world  loves  Him;  and  so  gentle 
and  humble,  that  He  never  spoke  an 
unkind  word. 

Letter  to  His  Daughter  Anne. 

® 

May  we  have  more  of  them;  more 
pleasant  Christmas  volumes,  over  which 
we  and  our  children  can  laugh  together. 
Can  we  have  too  much  of  truth,  and  fun, 
and  beauty,  and  kindness  ? 

Critical  Reviews. 
[139] 


THACKERAY 

Suppose  there  be  holidays;  is  there 
not  work-time  too  ?  Suppose  to-day  is 
feast  day,  may  not  tears  and  repentance 
come  to-morrow  ? 

The  Adventures  of  Philip,  chap.  vi. 

My  song,  save  this  is  little  worth — 

I  lay  the  weary  pen  aside. 
And    wish    you    health,    and    love,    and 
mirth. 
As   fits   the   solemn   Christmastide. 
As  fits  the  holy  Christmas  birth, 

Be  this,  good  friends,  our  carol  still — 
Be  peace  on  earth,  be  peace  on  earth. 
To  men  of  gentle  will. 

Ballads — The  End  of  the  Play. 
® 
Good-night,   friends,   old  and   young  1 
The  night  will  fall ;  the  stories  must  end ; 
and  the  best  friends  must  part. 

The  Adventures  of  Philip,  chap,  xlii. 


INDEX 

OF     FIRST      LINES 


A  COMFORTABLE  Career 

of  prosperity,  38. 
A   day   in   which   one 

sees  a   very   pretty 

woman,  8. 
A    dullard    recognizes 

no  betters,  85. 
A  friend,  can  one  find 

a  truer,  4. 
A  good  dinner  is  the 

centre,  82. 
A  house  with  a  wife, 

41- 

A  hundred  years  ago 
people,  64. 

A  Londoner  who  sees 
fresh  faces,   66. 

A  man  gets  his  own  ex- 
perience about  wom- 
en. 55. 

A  man  in  life,  a  hu- 
morist, 108. 

A  man  is  seldom  more 
manly,  23. 

[14 


A  man  only  begins  to 
know  women,   8. 

A  man  who  has  been 
a-pleasuring,  35. 

A  man  will  lay  down 
his  head,   25. 

A  man's  sketches  and 
his    pictures,    71. 

A  perfectly  honest 
woman,   11. 

A  perilous  trade  in- 
deed,  III. 

A  person  always  ready 
to  fight  is,  30. 

A  Pharisee  may  put 
pieces  of  gold,  86. 

A  poet  must  retire  to 
privy  places,   73. 

A  single  man  who  has 
health,   20. 

A  weary  heart  gets  no 
gladness,  77. 

A  young  fellow  can- 
not be  cast  down,  53 . 

i] 


THACKERAY 


About  all  those  heroes 

of   Scott,    lOO. 
Accusations  of  ingrat- 
itude,  15. 
Ah,     Chloe!      To     be 

good,  43. 
Ah!  dear  me,  we  are 

most     of     us     very 

lonely,  44. 
Ah,   gracious   Heaven 

gives  us  eyes,  128. 
Ah  me !  how  quick  the 

days  are  flitting,  44. 
Ah  me!  we  wound,  10. 
Ah ,  my  worthy  friends, 

you  little  know,  1 1 1 . 
Ah !  no  man  knows  his 

strength,  31. 
Ah,    pangs    of    hearts 

torn  asunder,  133. 
Ah,  sir — a  distinct  uni- 
verse walks,  18. 
Ah,  ye  knights  of  the 

pen!  96. 
Alfred     Tennyson,     if 

he  can't  make  you 

like  him,   94. 
All   good    women    are 

matchmakers,   48. 
All  good  women,  you 

know,  are,   44. 
An    English    worthy, 

doing  his  duty,  96. 
An  immense  genius;  an 

awful  downfall,  94. 

[I 


And  as  the  poet  has 
told  us  how,   69. 

And  he  who  has  suf- 
fered as  a  child,  52. 

And  however  old  and 
toothless,   1 5. 

And  I  should  like  my 
daughters  to  remem- 
ber, 102. 

And  if  I  might  be  al- 
lowed to  give  a  hint 
to  amateurs,  71. 

And  if,  in  time  of 
sacred   youth,    56. 

And  in  the  world,  as 
in  the  school,  69. 

And  indeed,  when  a 
man  travels  alone, 84. 

And  so,  in  the  hour  of 
their  pain,   43. 

And  so  indeed  Nature 
does  make  some  gen- 
tlemen, 35. 

And  so  there  are  other 
glittering  baubles, 
36. 

And  so  we  get  to  un- 
derstand, 63. 

And  so  we  meet  and 
part,  61. 

And  that  is  a  point 
whereon  .  .  .  many 
a  gentleman,   40. 

And  the  great  quality 
of  dulness  is,  86. 


42 


INDEX 


And  what  has  this  to 
do  with  half-crowns, 
ii8. 

And  when,  its  force  ex- 
pended, 89. 

And  who,  pray,  was 
Agnes,  7. 

And  yet  there  is  one 
day,   50. 

And  young  fellows  are 
honest,  and  merry, 

.  54- 

Are  not  comedies  and 
tragedies  daily  per- 
formed, 113. 

Art  is  truth,  and  truth 
is,   72. 

Art  ought  not  to  be  a 
fever,  75. 

As  a  man  who  has 
long  since  left  off 
being  amused,   51. 

As   for   good    women, 

3- 
As     I      consider     the 

passionate  griefs  of 

childhood,    120. 
As  I  was  talking  .  .  . 

about    Harry    Hal- 
lam,  97. 
As  the  gambler  said  of 

his  dice,  9. 
As  the  poet   has  ob- 

served,     "Those 

only,"   23. 

[14 


As  we  go  on  the  down- 
hill journey,  61. 

As  you  can  seldom 
fashion  your  tongue 
to  speak  a  new  lan- 
guage, 76. 

Ask  of  your  own 
hearts,    132. 

At  certain  periods  of 
life  we  live  years  of 
emotion,    128. 

At  the  usual  evening 
hour  the  chapel  bell, 
127. 

Be  sure,  sir,  that  idle 
bread,   24. 

Because  an  eagle 
houses,   68. 

Because  you  and  I 
are   epicures,    21. 

Before  and  since  Mr. 
Franklin,   36. 

Beside  the  old  hall- 
fire,    50. 

Better  to  be  alone  in 
the  world,   77. 

Blessed  he  —  blessed 
though  .  .  .  unde- 
serving,  40. 

Blessing  the  happy 
hour,   78. 

But  almost  every  man 
.  .  .  has  the  hap- 
piness, 8. 

3] 


THACKERAY 


But  don't  you  ac- 
knowledge that  the 
sight  of,  47. 

But  fortune  good  or 
ill  .  .  .  does  not 
change,  35. 

But  have  we  not  all 
been  misled,  80. 

But  I  do  respect,  ad- 
mire, 4. 

But  love  seems  to 
survive  life,  35. 

But  only  true  love 
lives  after  you,  45. 

But  remember  that 
every  man  who  has 
been    worth    a    fig, 

75- 
But      the     good      Ir- 
ving, the    peaceful, 

93- 

But  the  most  sublime 
.  .  .  sight  in  all  Nat- 
ure, 25. 

But  there  are  mo- 
ments when  the 
tenderest  woman, 
6. 

But  what,  what  is 
memory?  38. 

But  when  angered, 
the  rest  of  us,  13. 

By  pushing  steadily 
people  will  yield, 


26. 


[ 


Canst  thou  .  .  .  count 
upon  the  fidelity,  g. 

Careless  prodigals  and 
anxious  elders,  57. 

Christmas  is  here  {The 
Mahogany  Tree) , 
138. 

Compared  to  the  pos- 
session of  that  price- 
less treasure,  132. 

Cultivate,  kindly  read- 
er, those  friendships, 
53- 

Dare,  and  the  world 
always  yields,  136. 

Dear  friendly  eyes, 
with  constant  kind- 
ness lit,   77. 

Did  you  ever  hear  or 
read  four  words,  32. 

Do  not  you,  as  a  boy, 
remember,   61. 

Do  what  I  will,  be 
innocent,   26. 

Does  any  man  who 
has  written  a  book, 
96. 

Does  it  strengthen  a 
man,    136. 

Ere  you  be  old,  learn 
I      to  love,   63. 

Esmond  came  to  this 
I      spot,    115. 

44] 


INDEX 


Every  man  .  .  .  must 

remember     with 

kindness,  29. 
Every    one    of    us    in 

every  fact,  .  .  .  sees, 

etc.,   124. 

Few  fond  women  feel 
money  -  distressed, 

45- 
For  a  woman  all  soul, 

6. 
For  my  part,  I  believe 

that  remorse,   28. 
For  my  part,  I  never 

found  any  harm  of 

castle-building,  83. 
For    is    not    a    young 

mother,   62. 
For  of  all  diets,  good 

humor,  87. 
Fortunate     he,     how- 
ever poor,   77. 
Friends   and   children 

of  our  race,   120. 
From    the    loss    of    a 

tooth  to  that,  46. 

Good     dinners     have 
been    the    greatest. 

Good  -  night,    friends, 
old  and  young,  140. 

Happy  it  is  to  love,  1 1 . 
[I 


Happy !  who  is  happy  ? 
41- 

Have  you  got  any- 
thing so  good  ...  as 
dear  Miss  Edge- 
worth's  Frank,  102. 

Have  you  read  David 
Copperfield,    107. 

He  came,  the  gentle 
satirist,    105. 

He  fought  a  thousand 
glorious  wars,   82. 

He  is  so  insufferably 
affable,   29. 

He  is  such  an  ass  and 
so  respectable,  25. 

He  was  oppressed 
by        illness,       age, 

113- 
He  was  thinking  what 

a  mockery,   19. 
He    who    meanly    ad- 
mires mean  things, 

67. 
Helen    whispered, 

"Come  away,"  121. 
His    affection    is    part 

of  his  life,  30. 
His  courtesy  was  not 

put  on,   54. 
How  happy  he  whose 

foot,    16. 
How     much     of     the 

paint  and  emphasis, 

113- 
45] 


THACKERAY 


How    often    have    we 

called  our  judge,  27. 
How    one's    thoughts 

will  travel!  85. 
Humor!  humor  is  the 

mistress  of  tears,  87. 
Humor!    if    tears    are 

the  alms,  87. 

I  ALWAYS  think  the  in- 
vention of  toys,  51. 

I  believe  a  man  for- 
gets nothing,  38. 

I  laelieve  it  is  by  per- 
sons believing  them- 
selves in  the  right, 
121. 

I  can  have  first-rate 
tragedy  in  London, 
114. 

I   cannot   help   telling    I 
the  truth,   2. 

I  do  think  some  wom-    I 
en  almost,   5. 

I  don't   like   to  think 
of  you  half  so  sad,    I 
92. 

I  don't  pity  anybody    I 
who    leaves    the 
world,    132. 

I   doubt   whether  the    I 
wisest  of   us   know, 
124. 

I   have   endured   pov-    I 
erty,   76. 

[146 


have  known  men  of 
lax   faith,    131. 
have  to  own  that  I 
think     the     heroes, 
100. 

know  there  is  noth- 
ing like  a  knowl- 
edge,  23. 

like  to  think  of  a 
well-nurtured  boy, 
49. 

like  to  think  that 
there  is  no  man  but 
has,   31. 

may  quarrel  with 
Mr.  Dickens'  art, 
107. 

protest  the  great  ills 
of  life  are  nothing, 

say,  lucky  is  the 
man,    21. 

should  like  to  have 
been  Shakespeare's 
shoe-black,   106. 

smart      the      cruel 
smart  again,  52. 
think  every  woman 
.  .  .  looks  beautiful, 
62. 

think  happiness  is 
as  good  as  prayers, 

73- 

think  it  is  one  test 

of  gentility,    68. 

] 


INDEX 


I   think   you  have   in 

your  breast,   73. 
I  vow  and  believe  that 

the  cigar,   83. 
I  was  thinking  of  our 

acquaintance,  106. 
I     wonder     are     our 

women  more  virtu- 
ous, 3. 
If   a   man   is   in   grief 

who    cheers,    6. 
If    I    choose    to    pass 

over  an  injury,  14. 
If     identity     survives 

the  grave,  125. 
If    love    lies    through 

all    life,    119. 
If  our  bad  unspoken 

thoughts,     127. 
If  success  is  rare  and 

slow.  68. 
If    the    best    men    do 

not  draw  the  great 

prizes,   17. 
If  the  secret  history  of 

books,   105. 
If  the  sight  of  youth- 
ful love,    64. 
If  they  were   not  the 

roses,    they     lived, 

65- 
If  we  only  got  what 

we  deserved,  136. 
If  we  still  love  those 

we  lose,  46. 


If  you  die  to-morrow, 

78. 
If  your  neighbor's  foot 

obstructs  you,   13. 
In   a   word,   we   carry 

our     own     burden, 

126. 
In  certain  minds,  art 

is   doininant,    76. 
In    our    transatlantic 

country  we  have, 39. 
In  speaking  of  a  work 

of  art,   72. 
In    spite    of   his    brag 

•and   boast,   56. 
In   the   battle  of  life, 

are  we  all,   79. 
In    the    name   of   my 

wife  I  write,  40. 
In  the  portraits  of  the 

literary       worthies, 

103. 
Indeed,     calamity     is 

welcome,   40. 
Indeed,  what    can    be 

more  provoking,  41. 
Is   memory  as  strong 

as  expectancy,  124. 
Is  the  glory  of  Heaven 

to  be  sung  only  by, 

I25-. 

Isn't  it  strange  that 
in  the  midst,  22. 

It  costs  a  gentleman 
no  sacrifice,  10. 


[147] 


THACKERAY 


It  is  a  sad  thing  to 
think  that  a  man 
...  is    a    humbug, 

It  is  a  thought,  to  me, 
awful,    136. 

It  is  best  to  love  wise- 
ly, no  doubt,  45. 

It  is  curious  to  watch 
that  facile  admira- 
tion,  59. 

It  is  night  now;  and 
here  is  home,  90. 

It  is  only  in  later  days 
.  .  .  that  we  re- 
member,   129. 

It     is     recorded     that 
the     beaux     .     . 
thought  it   a  great 
honor,   104. 

It  is  the  pretty  face,  7. 

It  was  a  fete  day;  a 
mass,   72. 

It  was  the  first  step 
in  life,   19. 

Kind  readers  all,  may 
your   sorrows,    137. 

Kindnesses  are  easily 
forgotten,    19. 

La  Longue  Carobine 
is  one  of  the  great, 

lOI. 

Leave  him  occasional- 
[I 


ly  alone,    my  good 

madame,   51. 
Let  no  young  people 

be  misled,   112. 
Let  us  be  thankful  for 

our  race,  9. 
Long,     long     through 

the    hour    and    the 

night    and    the 

chimes,    no. 
Love  and  pleasure  find 

singers,  98. 
Lucky   for   you    .    .    . 

pure  hearts  pity,  14. 

Make    a    faith    by   a 
dogma     absolute, 

121. 

.  .  .  many  a  day  passes 

without  a  good  joke, 

88. 
Many     a     man     and 

woman    have    been 

.  .  .  worshipped,  130. 
Many  a  man  fails,  31. 
Many  a  young  couple 

of  spendthrifts,  42. 
May  we  have  more  of 

them,   139. 
Men  are  ostentatious, 

86. 
Men  have  all  sorts  of 

motives,  24. 
Men      serve      women 

kneeling,   13. 

48] 


INDEX 


Might  I  give  counsel 
to  any  young  hear- 
er, 57. 

Mind,  there  is  always 
a  certain  cachet 
about  great  men, 
109. 

Monsieur  nton  fils,  if 
ever  you  marry,  58. 

Montaigne  and 
Howell's  letters,  97. 

Most  of  us  play  with 
edged  tools,  31. 

Mother  is  the  name 
for  God,  62. 

My  dear  nephew,  as  I 
grow  old,   4. 

My  dear  young  friend, 
the  profitable  way, 

59-  .      . 

My  song,  save  this,  is 

little  worth,   140. 

Nature  has  written 
a  letter  of  credit,  2 1 . 

Nature  meant  very 
gently  by  women,  8. 

Next  to  the  very 
young,    I    suppose, 

63- 
No    Irishman  ever 

gave,    16. 
No    more    firing    was 

heardat  Brussels, 8 1 . 
Novels  are  sweets,  in. 

[I 


Now  as  Nature  made 
every  man,   16. 

O,     BE     humble,     my 

brother,  37. 
O     blessed     they     on 

whose    pillow,    128. 
O  brother  wearers  of 

the  motley!  106. 
O     Dumas!     O     thou 

brave,   108. 
O  friend,  in  your  life 

and  mine,   132. 
O    mighty    fate,    that 

over  us,  66. 
O    night,    what    tears 

you  hide,   91. 
O  Vanity  of  Vanities! 

66. 
Of  course,  every  duti- 
ful man  tells,  47. 
Of   what   use   keeping 

letters?   115. 
Oh,  for  a  half-holiday, 

lOI. 

Oh,  glorious,  god-like 

privilege,  87. 
Oh!  the  whole  world 

throbs,  91. 
Oh !    Vanitas    Vanita- 

tum!    126. 
One    man    goes    over 

the  ice,   27. 
One  reads  in  the  magic 

story-books,  94. 

49] 


THACKERAY 


Only  to  two  or  three 
persons  .  .  .  are  the 
reminiscences,    46. 

Our  great  thoughts, 
our  great  affections, 
124. 

Out  of  our  stormy 
life,   130. 

Parting      is      death, 

118. 
Perhaps  he  had  a  love 

affair   in   early   life, 

54- 
Perhaps  ...  it  may  be 

that  Raphael,   73. 
Poverty    is    a    bully, 

39- 
Prior's    seems    to    me 
among   the  easiest, 
112. 

Say  it  is  a  dream,  22. 
Sin  in  man  is  so  light, 

29. 
Since    the    author    of 

Tom    Jones   was 

buried,  95. 
Sir,  Respect  Your 

Dinner,  82. 
So    a    man    dashes    a 

fine  vase,   26. 
So    each    in    his    own 

fashion  ...  is  bow- 
ing down,   130. 

[150 


So  each  shall  mourn, 

in  life's  advance,  78. 
So  it  is  that  what  is 

grand,   29. 
So  night  and  day  pass 

away,    130. 
So,  one  day,  shall  the 

names  of   all  of  us, 

129. 
So  the  generations  of 

men  pass,   135. 
Society  has  this  good, 

at  least,  65. 
Some   boys   have   the 

complaint  of  love,  5  5. 
Some   day  our   spirits 

.    .    .    may  walk   in 

galleries,   71. 
Some    poet    has    ob- 
served, 93. 
Some    there    be    who 

have  been  married, 

42. _ 
Stinginess  is  snobbish, 

69. 
Stranger !  I  never  writ 

a    flattery,   2. 
Stupid  people  .  .  .  are 

always  pompous,  88. 
Such     a     brave     and 

gentle  heart,  95. 
Suppose  Eve  had  not 

eaten,  6. 
Suppose  there  be  holi- 
days,  140. 


INDEX 


Sure,  love  viticit  omnia. 

Sure,   occasion   is   the 

father,   55. 
Surely   a   fine   furious 

temper,   24. 
Surely    no    man    can 

have  better  claims, 

49- 

That  astonishing 
poem,  .  .  .  the 
"  Bridge  of  Sighs," 
99. 

That  tnust  be  a 
strange  feeling 
when,  137. 

The  best  criterion  of 
good  huinor  is  suc- 
cess, 88. 

The  blessed  gift  of 
pleasing,   7. 

The  book  of  female 
logic  is  blotted,   5. 

The  bounties  of  the 
Father     I     believe. 

The    boy    critic   loves 

the   story,    102. 
The      Congreve   muse 

is  dead,   98. 
The  delusion  is  better 

than  the  truth,  126. 
The     ears      may      no 

longer  hear,   133. 

[I 


The     enjoyments     of 

boyish  fancy,  49. 
The     great     inoments 

in  life,   120. 
The  great  world  .   .   . 

detects  a  pretender, 

20. 
The  incidents  of  life, 

and     love  -  making, 

45- 

The  laugh  dies  out  as 
we  get  old,  62. 

The  leopard  follows 
her  nature,  119. 

The  literary  profes- 
sion, 105. 

The  little  ills  of  life 
are  the  hardest,  13. 

The  man  is  a  great 
jester,   no. 

The  maternal  passion 
is  a  sacred  mystery, 
60. 

The  pipe  draws  wis- 
dom from  the  lips, 
84. 

The  play  is  done;  the 
curtain  drops,  114. 

The  rose  upon  my 
balcony,   8g. 

The  satire  of  people 
who  have  little  nat- 
ural  humor,   88. 

The  tones  of  a  mother 's 
voice,   60. 

SI] 


THACKERAY 


The  Venus  of  Milo  is 
the  grandest,  75. 

The  wicked  are  wick- 
ed, no  doubt,  125. 

The  women  can  master 
us,  8. 

The  world  deals  good- 
naturedly,  22. 

The  world  is  a  looking- 
glass,   23. 

The  world  is  full  of 
love  and  pity,   128. 

The  world  is  so  wide, 
18. 

The  world,  it  is  pleas- 
ant to  think,  20. 

There  are  people  upon 
whom  rank,  66. 

There  are  people  who 
in  their  youth,  55. 

There  are  some  nat- 
ures,  22. 

There  are  some  who 
nevercanpardon,2  5. 

There  is  a  certain  sort 
of  man,  38. 

There  is  ...  a  cheap 
and  delightful  way 
of  travelling,  84. 

There  is  a  higher  in- 
gredient in  beauty. 

There  is  a  quality  .  .  . 
which  is  above  all 
advice,  86. 

[I 


There  is  life  and 
death  going  on,  135. 

There  is  no  blinking 
the  fact  that  .  .  . 
John  Leech,   72. 

There's  pity  and  love, 
46. 

There  is  scarce  any 
parent,  however 
friendly,   58. 

There  is  scarce  any 
thoughtful  man,  37. 

There's  some  particu- 
lar prize,   21. 

"There  must  be 
classes,"  126. 

They  call  that  room 
the    nursery,    49. 

They  live  together  and 
they  dine,   42. 

They  say  our  words 
...  go  travelling, 
118. 

Think  of  him  reck- 
less, thoughtless, 
vain,    106. 

Think  of  the  dan- 
gers these  seamen 
undergo,   80. 

This  lady,  I  believe, 
would  have  aban- 
doned,   10. 

This  only  we  will  say, 
that  a  good  woman, 
12. 

52] 


INDEX 


Those  we  love  can  but 
walk  down,  120. 

Those  who  knew  Lord 
Macaulay,  95. 

Through  life  he  always 
seems  alone,   99. 

Time  out  of  mind, 
strength  and  cour- 
age have  been,  8r 

'Tis  an  error  ...  to 
talk  of  the  sim- 
plicity of  youth.  53. 

'Tis  misfortune  that 
awakens  ingenuity, 

32- 
'Tis    strange    what    a 

man  may  do.  3. 
To     be     beautiful      is 

enough.    5. 
To  be  doing  good  for 

some  one  else.  5. 
To    be     rich,     to    be 

famous?  65. 
To    be   young,    to    be 

good-looking,   56. 
To-day     is     for     the 

happy.  37. 
To     do     your     work 

honestly,   93, 
To  draw  long  dreams 

of  beauty,  love,  and 

power,   54 
To    have    your    name 

mentioned  by  Gib- 
bon,  104. 


To  save  be  your  en- 
deavor, 92. 

To  see  a  young  couple 
loving  each  other, 
62 

True  love  is  better 
than  glory,  47. 

Warm  friendship  and 
thorough       esteem , 

47- 
Washington   inspiring 

order,  79. 
We  all  hide  from  one 

another,   17. 
We  are  glad  to  see  an 

old  friend,  77. 
We  are  living  in  the 

nineteenth  century, 

I02. 

We  are  now  come  to 
the  greatest  name, 
109. 

We  can  apply  the  snob 
test  to  him,  67. 

We     forget     nothing, 

135- 
We  have  all  heard  of 

the    dying     French 

Duchess,   12. 
We  may  grow  old,  but 

to  us  some  stories, 

134- 
We  may  not  win  the 

baton,  81. 

53] 


THACKERAY 


We  perceive  in  every 

man's  life,  i6. 
We    view    the    world 

with  our  own  eyes, 

64. 
Well,    well,   we   can't 

be  all  roaring  lions, 

34- 
What  a  deal  of  grief, 

care,  8;^. 
What     a     marvellous 

power  is  this  of  the 

painters!  74. 
What  a  privilege  some 

men  have,  30. 
What     an     awful    re- 
sponsibility,   108. 
What  boots  it  whether 

it   be    Westminster, 

137- 

What  character  of 
what  great  man,  28. 

What,  indeed,  does  not 
that  word  "cheer- 
fulness" imply?  83. 

What  generals  some 
of  us  are,  80. 

What  good  woman 
does  not  laugh  at, 

17- 

What  is  it  ...  so  re- 
spected .  .  .  as  .  .  . 
dulness?  85. 

What  is  it  to  be  a 
gentleman  ?  34. 

[I 


What    is   it?      Where 
lies  it?    the    secret, 

5- 
What !     is    love    sin  ? 

63- 
What    is    sheer    hate 

seems  ...  so  like,  67. 
What    is    the    dearest 

praise  of  all,    16. 
What  man's  life  is  not 

overtaken,  27. 
What  money  is  better 

bestowed,   58. 
What    strange    mixt- 
ure of  pity,  48. 
What  would  the  pos- 
session of  a  hundred 

thousand,  30. 
When  a  gentleman  is 

cudgelling  his  brain, 

103. 
When  a  man  is  in  love, 

48. 
When  I  saw  the  great 

Venus,  74. 
When  my  ink  is  run 

out,   43. 
When    one    thinks    of 

country  houses,   10. 
When  the  women   of 

the  house,  4. 
When  two  women  get 

together.  3. 
Whene'er  I  write  your 

name,  79. 

54] 


INDEX 


Wherefore  were  wings 

made.   52. 
Which     is    the    most 

reasonable.    20. 
Which  of  the  dead  are 

most  tenderly,   50. 
WHiich  of  us  can  point 

out  and  say.   39. 
Which  of  us  has  not 

his  anxiety.   91. 
Which  of  us  has  not 

idle  words  to  recall  ? 

"3- 
Which   of   us   that   is 

thirty.    J34 
Who   does   not    know 

of  eyes  lighted.  48. 
Who  has  not  felt  that 

little  shock    104. 
Who  is  this  that  sets 

up  to  preach.  2. 
Who  likes  a  man  best 

because.  33 
Who    misses    or    who 

wins  the  prize,   36. 
Who  ordered  toil  .  .  . 

ordered     weariness. 

6.3- 
Who  says  the  world  is 

all  cold  ?   117. 
Who     was     born     on 

Christmas      Day? 

139- 
Who  was  the  blunder- 
ing idiot,  68. 

[15 


Who  would  not  be 
poor,   23. 

Whose  life  is  not  a  dis- 
appointment ?  134. 

Whose  turn  may  it  be 
to-morrow?  24. 

Why  the  deuce  will 
men  make  light, 
26. 

Why,  what  tragedies, 
comedies,   113. 

With  a  five  and  twenty 
years'  experience, 
99. 

With  youth,  hope,  to- 
day.  57. 

Words,  like  men,  pass 
current,   28. 

Wounds  heal  rapidly 
in  a  heart,  57. 

Yes,  a  good  face,  27. 

Yesterday,  in  the 
street.  I  saw  a  pair 
of  eyes,    59. 

Yesterday  is  gone- 
yes.  37- 

Yesterday  is  the  phi- 
losopher's property, 

17- 

You  have  the  same 
four  letters  to  de- 
scribe. 12. 

You  may  see  by  the 
above  letter,  1 1 . 

5] 


THACKERAY 


You  open  an  old  letter- 
box and  look,  115. 

You  see,  there  come 
moments  of  sorrow, 

79- 
You  see   tragedies   in 


some  people's  faces, 

114. 
You  shall  be  none  the 

worse  to-morrow,  19. 
You  who    can   smash 

the    idols,    107. 


THE    END 


I 


cO^^ 


THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DAT 
STAMPED  BELOW. 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A  A         001  417  104  5 


